1. Prologue: Starvin’ for Justice 2. Introduction: The First Day of Class 3. Michael Perry and the Religious Cosmology: Foundations and Critiques of Human Rights 4. The Possibility of Non-religious Human Rights: Alan Gewirth and the Principle of Generic Consistency 5. The Problem of Secular Sacredness: Ronald Dworkin, Michael Perry, and Human Rights Foundationalism 6. Human Dignity Without Teleology: Human Rights and Evolutionary Biology 7. Does Might Make Human Rights?: Sympathy, Solidarity, and Subjectivity in Richard Rorty’s Final Vocabulary 8. Rights and Wrongs Without God: A Non-religious Grounding for Human Rights in a Pluralistic World 9. Bibliography
Ari Kohen has been Assistant Professor of Justice Studies and Political Science at James Madison University, USA; from August 2007, he will be Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
"The justification to others of what we take to be the foundation
of the human-rights ideas eventually reaches an impasse beyond
which no argument can take us. Here, the debate is moved forward
not by answers but by questions, new perspectives, and thoughtful
reconsiderations of older ones. In this Kohen excels. Reading his
discussion of other authors is like sitting in the classroom of a
gifted teacher, listening to clear, fair-minded, even generous
critiques of complex arguments delivered in a style both pleasant
and engaging."Perspectives on Politics 6.2, 2008 "Kohen’s locating
human rights in a deliberative process has much to recommend it.
Namely, its construction of rights in a free and equal discourse is
by definition more inclusive and respectful of differing practices
and traditions than the Enlightenment approaches that Rorty
condemned… Kohen’s program will be viewed sympathetically amongst
many in liberal democracies with robust histories of such
traditions. But it is an open question whether or not non-liberal
societies – or even newly emerging ones like Russia – are prepared
to meet Kohen’s challenge. Nevertheless, In Defense of Human Rights
represents a fine contribution to the growing literature on its
chosen subject and must be regarded as essential reading for all
engaged with these matters."Philosophy in Review, 2007"Kohen’s
proposal to defend human rights in terms of a consensus that is
global in scope (rather than in metaphysical claims about human
nature), if it can be confirmed by historical and contemporary
empirical investigation, is a significant improvement over
justifications of human rights offered by Perry, Gewirth, and
Dworkin, not only in my view, but also in terms of the criteria of
inclusivity, persuasiveness, and practicality that Kohen
defends."Human Rights Review 7.1, 2007
"The justification to others of what we take to be the foundation
of the human-rights ideas eventually reaches an impasse beyond
which no argument can take us. Here, the debate is moved forward
not by answers but by questions, new perspectives, and thoughtful
reconsiderations of older ones. In this Kohen excels. Reading his
discussion of other authors is like sitting in the classroom of a
gifted teacher, listening to clear, fair-minded, even generous
critiques of complex arguments delivered in a style both pleasant
and engaging."Perspectives on Politics 6.2, 2008 "Kohen’s locating
human rights in a deliberative process has much to recommend it.
Namely, its construction of rights in a free and equal discourse is
by definition more inclusive and respectful of differing practices
and traditions than the Enlightenment approaches that Rorty
condemned… Kohen’s program will be viewed sympathetically amongst
many in liberal democracies with robust histories of such
traditions. But it is an open question whether or not non-liberal
societies – or even newly emerging ones like Russia – are prepared
to meet Kohen’s challenge. Nevertheless, In Defense of Human Rights
represents a fine contribution to the growing literature on its
chosen subject and must be regarded as essential reading for all
engaged with these matters."Philosophy in Review, 2007"Kohen’s
proposal to defend human rights in terms of a consensus that is
global in scope (rather than in metaphysical claims about human
nature), if it can be confirmed by historical and contemporary
empirical investigation, is a significant improvement over
justifications of human rights offered by Perry, Gewirth, and
Dworkin, not only in my view, but also in terms of the criteria of
inclusivity, persuasiveness, and practicality that Kohen
defends."Human Rights Review 7.1, 2007 "...this book represents a
fine contribution to the growing literature on its chosen subject,
and it must be regarded as essential reading for all engaged with
these matters."David Lay Williams, University of Wisconsin--Stevens
Point
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