Griffin on Human Rights

...........................................................................................................................
Description
Human rights are one of the most controversial and widely discussed ideas in contemporary politics, ethics, and law. In recent decades, the philosophy of human rights has flourished. A highly significant contributor to the debate has been James Griffin, formerly Whites Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford. In his book. On Human Right, and in other work, Griffin has defended the view that contemporary judicial understandings of human rights rest on an insecure theoretical basis. This has had the result that the language of human rights has been over-extended, and consequently has less force where it really matters. On Griffins view, human rights arc best understood as protections of our agency and personhood, and he argues his case with reference to many real-life human rights cases. Griffins book has led to a great deal of discussion, and this volume collects several of the most significant responses to Griffin by internationally leading moral and political philosophers. It also includes a response by Griffin himself. The book does not require first-hand knowledge of Griffins work, and, while being required reading for scholars of human rights, will also make an ideal book for an undergraduate or graduate seminar on human rights.
All royalties from this book will be donated to Amnesty International.
...........................................................................................................................
Contents
1.     Two Approaches to Human Rights
         Cart Wellman
2.     Taking Rights out of Human Rights
         John Tasioulas
3.     When the Good Alone isn't Good Enough
        David A. Reidy
4.     The Egalitarianism of Huma Rights
         Allen Buchanan
5.     Human Rights, Human Agency, and Respect: Extending Griffin's View
        Rowan Cruft
6.     Griffin on Human Rights : Form and Substance
        Roger Crisp
7.     Personhood versus Human Needs as Grounds for Human Rights
        David Miller
8.     Griffin on Human Rights to Liberty
        James W. Nickel
Replies
James Griffin
Index
...........................................................................................................................
Author Details
Roger Crisp is Uehiro Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at St. Anne's College, Oxford, and Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford. He is the author of Reasons and the Good (OUP, 2006) co-editor of Well-Being and Moraility: Essays in Honour of James Griffin (with Brad Hooker: Clarendon Press, 2000), and editor of The Oxford Handbook of the History of Ethics (OUP, 2013).
...........................................................................................................................