1st Edition

Rights A Critical Introduction

By Tom Campbell Copyright 2006
256 Pages
by Routledge

256 Pages
by Routledge

256 Pages
by Routledge

We take rights to be fundamental to everyday life. Rights are also controversial and hotly debated both in theory and practice. Where do rights come from? Are they invented or discovered? What sort of rights are there and who is entitled to them? In this comprehensive introduction, Tom Campbell introduces and critically examines the key philosophical debates about rights. The first part of the... Read more

Part 1: The Discourses of Rights  1. The Reputation of Rights.  Historical Ups and Downs.  Four Critiques of Rights.  Preserving the Reputation of Rights.  Varieties of Rights.  Right and Rights.  Rights and Rules.  A Typology of Rights.  Human Rights.  The Rights Approach.  Conclusion  2. Theories of Rights.  Will or Interests?  Who Can Have Rights?  What Right do They Have?  What Rights Ought They to Have?  Conclusion  3. Political Ideologies and Their Rights.  Rawls and the Social Contract.  Libertarian Responses and Republican Compromises.  Communitarians, Left and Right.  Feminism and Rights.  Conclusion  Part 2: The Institutions of Rights  4. Legal Rights.  Rights and Remedies.  Formal Rule of Law.  Substantive Rule of Law.  Bills of Rights.  Conclusion.  International Human Rights.  International Courts.  Human Rights Intervention.  Cultural Diversity.  Conclusion  5. Rights and Civil Society.  Civil Society.  Economic Entities and Human Rights.  Sphere-Specific Rights.  Conclusion  Part 3: Three Human Rights  6. Freedom of Speech.  Free Speech Rationales.  Critiques.  Implications and Institutions.  Conclusion  7. Sustenance.  Economic and Social Rights.  Institutionalizing a Right to Sustenance.  Justice or Humanity.  Conclusion  8. Self-Determination.  Collective Rights.  Collective Self-Determination.  Varieties of Self-Determination.  Answering the Critics  Part 4: A Theory of Rights  9. Democratic Positivism.  The Positivism.  The Democracy.  The Critiques.  The Questions.  Conclusion

 

Biography

Tom Campbell is Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Canberra. He is the author of Seven Theories of Human Society and Justice.

 

 

‘This book is a solid one for students. The text itself is clearly written. . .It is certainly a book that could be recommended to. . .upper level undergraduates and postgraduate students in law, philosophy, and politics.’ Rex Martin, Australasian Journal of Philosophy