Human Rights: Moral or Political?

by Adam Etinson (Editor)

Overview

Over the past decade or so, philosophical speculation about human rights has tended to fall into two streams. On the one hand, there are "Orthodox" theorists, who think of human rights as natural rights: moral rights that we have simply in virtue of being human. On the other hand, there are "Political" theorists, who think of human rights as rights that play a distinctive role, or set of roles, in modern international politics: setting universal standards of political legitimacy, serving as norms of international concern, and/or imposing limits on the exercise of national sovereignty.

This edited volume explores this disagreement, its underlying sources, and related issues in the philosophy of human rights. Using the Orthodox-Political debate as a springboard for broader reflection, the volume covers a diverse range of questions about: the relevance of the history of human rights to their philosophical comprehension; how to properly understand the relationship between human rights morality and law; how to balance the normative character of human rights - their description of an ideal world - with the requirement that they be feasible in the here and now; the role of human rights in a world shaped by politics and power; and how to reconcile the individualistic and communitarian aspects of human rights.

All chapters are accompanied by useful and probing commentaries, which help to create dialogues throughout the entire volume.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198859994
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/09/2020
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Adam Etinson, University of St Andrews

Adam Etinson is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews, where he is also Assistant Director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs (CEPPA). His articles have appeared in a wide range of academic journals, including The Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Utilitas, The Journal of Moral Philosophy, Political Theory, and Human Rights Quarterly. He has also written for popular audiences in The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and Dissent.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Adam EtinsonI. THE RELEVANCE OF HISTORY1. Rights, History, Critique, Martti Koskenniemi1.1 Doing Without an Original: A Commentary on Martti Koskenniemi, Annabel Brett2. Human Rights in Heaven, Samuel Moyn2.1 Philosophizing the Real World of Human Rights: A Reply to Samuel Moyn, John Tasioulas2.2 Genealogies of Human Rights: What's at Stake?, Jeffrey FlynnII. THE ORTHODOX-POLITICAL DEBATE3. Human Rights: A Critique of the Raz/Rawls Approach, Jeremy Waldron3.1 On Waldron's Critique of Raz on Human Rights, Joseph Raz4. Assigning Functions to Human Rights: Methodological Issues in Human Rights Theory, James W. Nickel4.1 On Being Faithful to the 'Practice': A Response to Nickel, Adam Etinson5. The Concept of Human Rights: The Broad View, Andrea Sangiovanni5.1 Human Rights in Context: A Comment on Sangiovanni, Rainer ForstIII. MORALITY AND LAW6. Taking International Legality Seriously: A Methodology for Human Rights, Allen Buchanan & Gopal Sreenivasan6.1 Instrumentalism and Human Rights: A Response to Buchanan and Sreenivasan, Erasmus Mayr7. The Turn to Justification: On the Structure and Domain of Human Rights Practice, Mattias Kumm7.1 Human Rights and Justification: A Reply to Mattias Kumm, Samantha Besson8. Appreciating the Margin of Appreciation, Andreas Føllesdal8.1 The Margin of Appreciation Revisited: A Response to Føllesdal, George LetsasIV. IDEALS AND THEIR LIMITS9. Dwelling in Possibility: Ideals, Aspirations, and Human Rights, Kimberley Brownlee9.1 In What Sense Should Respect for Human Rights Be Attainable? A Response to Brownlee, Rowan Cruft10. The Nature of Violations of the Human Right to Subsistence, Elizabeth Ashford10.1 Remarks on Elizabeth Ashford's "The Nature of Violations of the Human Right to Subsistence", Daniel WeinstockV. THE CHALLENGES OF POLITICS11. Reflections on Human Rights and Power, Pablo Gilabert11.1 Reflections on Human Rights and Power: A Commentary, Elizabeth Frazer12. The Hazards of Rescue, C.A.J. Coady12.1 The Politics of Humanitarian Morality: Reflections on "The Hazards of Rescue", Vasuki NesiahVI. INDIVIDUALS, BORDERS, AND GROUPS13. Human Rights and Collective Self-Determination, Peter Jones13.1 Linking Self-Determination and Human Rights: A Comment on Peter Jones, Will Kymlicka14. Human Rights, Membership, and Moral Responsibility in an Unjust World: The Case of Immigration Restrictions, Alex Levitov & Stephen Macedo14.1 The Slippery Slope of Statist Cosmopolitanism: A Response to Levitov and Macedo, Seyla Benhabib

Editorial Reviews

"A rich collection of focussed dialogues - a provocative gift for teaching - in which the lively ferment over human rights in recent years is deepened, often by becoming refreshingly interdisciplinary, and exciting new formulations are proposed by a diverse range of leading scholars." — Henry Shue, author of Basic Rights (1996)

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights may be the single most influential document of the twentieth century, but is also one of the most controversial. In Human Rights: Moral or Political? Adam Etinson has brought together more than 30 leading legal, political, historical and philosophical commentators on human rights to discuss one anothers claims. The authors range from those who see human rights as successors to natural rights, so as providing universal moral standards, to those who see human rights as positive legal and political instruments that are changing the international order ... this collection is seriously and usefully critical not only on these fundamental issues, but also on knotty questions about specific rights, about principles of legal interpretation and about the limits of juridification." — Onora O'Neill, author of Justice Across Boundaries: Whose Obligations? (2016) and winner of the 2017 Berggruen Prize

"This is an impressive collection of essays by outstanding human rights scholars from a variety of disciplines. It is certain to make a lasting impact on contemporary thinking about human rights. Taking off from the current debate on the proper status of human rights as "orthodox" or "political", the essays in this volume not only move this important debate forward but also enable a genuine dialogue across disciplines on fundamental philosophical, political and legal questions surrounding human rights and human rights practice. The collection thus excellently represents the depth and scope of engagement across disciplinary boundaries that understanding human rights in all their complexity requires. It will be mandatory reading for anyone interested in the past, present and future of human rights." — Cristina Lafont, author of Global Governance and Human Rights (2012)

"Those of us whose work is focused on 'applied' human rights in law, politics, or ethics may nevertheless experience a need for fundamental reflection on the 'big' philosophical questions regarding human rights. Such craving can now be satisfied with a single book. With no less than 30 chapters and an unseen concentration of stars of the philosophical and other firmaments, it can also be read as a sample book, introducing readers to different ways of philosophical rights reasoning. The majority of the chapters engage in discussions at a very abstract or general level. While this may be off-putting to the practical-minded, it also guarantees relevance across the entire field of human rights scholarship, regardless of disciplines, jurisdictions and thematic specialisations." — Eva Brems, Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Gent

From the Publisher