Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of RightsBasic Books, 2009 M04 20 - 272 páginas This is a wholly new and compelling answer to one of the most persistent dilemmas in both law and moral philosophy: If rights are "natural"-if, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, it is "self-evident that all men are endowed . . . with certain inalienable rights"-where do these rights come from? Does natural law really exist outside the formal structure of humanly enacted law? On the other hand, if rights are nothing more than the product of human law, what argument is there for allowing the "rights" of a few people to outweigh the preferences of the majority? In this book, renowned legal scholar Alan Dershowitz offers a fresh resolution to this age-old dilemma: Rights, he argues, do not come from God, nature, logic, or law alone. They arise out of particular experiences with injustice. While justice is an elusive concept, hard to define and subject to conflicting interpretations, injustice is immediate, intuitive, widely agreed upon and very tangible. This is a timely book that will have an immediate impact on our political dialogue, from the intersection of religion and law to recent quandaries surrounding the right to privacy, voting rights, and the right to marry. More than that, it is a passionate case for the recognition of human rights in a rigorously secular framework. Rights from Wrongs will be the first book to propose a theory of rights that emerges not from some theory of perfect justice but from its opposite: from the bottom up, from trial and error, and from our collective experience of injustice. |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights Alan M. Dershowitz Vista previa limitada - 2004 |
Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights Alan M. Dershowitz Vista previa limitada - 2009 |
Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights Alan M. Dershowitz Sin vista previa disponible - 2009 |
Términos y frases comunes
abortion advocate Alan Dershowitz Amendment American animals answer Antonin Scalia approach to rights argue argument basic believe Bible Bill of Rights Chapter church citizens claim consensus dead death debate decision Declaration democracy detention divine due process Durkheim Dworkin emergency Émile Durkheim ences equality example experiential external source favor fetus God’s grandparents H. L. A. Hart Holocaust human experience immoral important individual injustice inventions invoked Jews John Hart Ely John Rocker Justice justify killing legal positivism liberty limited living constitution logic majority moral nation natural law natural rights nature’s Nazi Oliver Wendell Holmes one’s organs perfect person persuade philosophers political positive law preferences prevent principles punishment rabbi reasonable recognized religion religious rights-based Ronald Dworkin rules Scalia seek slave slavery society source of rights Supreme Court terrorism theory of rights tion trump truth unalienable utilitarian victims violated wrongs York