Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review‘The radical nature of Michael Perry’s “agapaistic” conceptualization of human rights seems at once intuitive, but somehow to have eluded the vast majority of commentators, particularly those with a legal background. Students and seasoned scholars alike will benefit from this return to the foundational ideas and claims of the human rights idea.’ -- Dustin Sharp, University of San Diego, US
‘Few scholars have understood the philosophy and application of human rights as well as Michael Perry. In this volume, with his customary clarity and care, Perry has boiled his insights down to their essence and demonstrated their utility in dealing with some of the most controversial moral issues of our time. It is a capstone work, indispensable reading for anyone who cares about the subject.’ -- Richard Kay, University of Connecticut, US
‘All interested in human rights in both the international and US contexts should read this book. It is a creative treatment of legal and philosophical approaches. Perry’s stress on the spirit of solidarity as key to promoting human rights is a powerful contribution.’ -- David Hollenbach, Georgetown University, US
‘Michael Perry’s lifelong project has been to give a philosophical account of human rights, beginning with its foundational basis and ending with specific prescriptions for controversial cases. His writing combines spectacular intellectual ambition, moral urgency, and rigor in a way that should be a model for all scholars.’ -- Andrew Koppelman, Northwestern University, US
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction: Interrogating the morality of human rights – Introductory overview PART I THE MORALITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS 1. Preliminary questions 2. The most fundamental question: What justification, if any? PART II TWO FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS: MORAL EQUALITY AND MORAL FREEDOM 3. The human right to moral equality and the constitutional right to equal protection 4. The human right to moral freedom and the constitutional right of privacy PART III THREE HUMAN-RIGHTS-BASED CONTROVERSIES: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, ABORTION, AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE 5. Capital punishment as a contested human rights issue 6. Criminalizing abortion as a contested human rights issue 7. Excluding same-sex couples from civil marriage as a contested human rights issue 8. Who decides? PART IV ANTIPOVERTY RIGHTS—AND VULNERABILITY THEORY 9. Poverty as a human rights issue 10 Vulnerability theory and the morality of human rights: Complementary, not competitive Conclusion: Human rights inflation? Extreme economic inequality and global warming as human rights issues Appendix. Index
