
Griffin on Human Rights
Roger Crisp(Editor)
Oxford University Press
Published on 28. August 2014
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-19-966873-1 (ISBN)
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 become one of the most lively areas in philosophy. One of the most significant contributors to the debate has been James Griffin, formerly White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford. In his book, On Human Rights, 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 Griffin's view, human rights are best understood as protections of our agency and personhood, and he argues his case with reference to many real-life human rights cases. Griffin's 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 Griffin's work, and, while being required reading for scholars of human rights, will also make an ideal book for a undergraduate or graduate seminar on human rights.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
453 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-966873-1 (9780199668731)
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Person
Roger Crisp has taught philosophy at St Anne's College, Oxford, for over twenty-five years. He is the author of Reasons and the Good (OUP, 2006), co-editor of Well-Being and Morality: 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).
Content
1. Two Approaches to Human Rights ; 2. Taking the Rights out of Human Rights ; 3. When the Good Alone isn't Enough ; 4. The Egalitarianism of Human Rights ; 5. Human Rights, Human Agency and Respect: Extending Griffin's View ; 6. Griffin on Human Rights: Form and Substance ; 7. Personhood versus Human Needs as Grounds for Human Rights ; 8. Griffin on Human Rights ; 9. Griffin on Human Rights to Liberty ; 10. Replies