Which Rights Should Be Universal? - Couverture rigide

Talbott, William J.

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0195173473 ISBN 13 : 9780195173475

Editeur : Oxford University Press Inc, 2005

Synopsis

How can the advocate of universal rights avoid being a moral imperialist? In this book, Talbott builds on the work of Rawls, Habermas, Mill, Sen, and Shue to explain how, over the course of history, human beings have learned how to adopt a distinctively moral standpoint from which it is possible to make universal, though not infallible, judgments of right and wrong. He explains how this distinctively moral standpoint has led to the discovery of the moral importance of nine basic rights. His accessible book is important for debates on human rights, but also for the broader issues of moral and cultural relativism.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

"We hold these truths to be self-evident..." So begins the U.S. Declaration of Independence. What follows those words is a ringing endorsement of universal rights, but it is far from self-evident. Why did the authors claim that it was? William Talbott suggests that they were trapped by a presupposition of Enlightenment philosophy: That there was only one way to rationally justify universal truths, by proving them from self-evident premises. With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the authors of the U.S. Declaration had no infallible source of moral truth. For example, many of the authors of the Declaration of Independence endorsed slavery. The wrongness of slavery was not self-evident; it was a moral discovery. In this book, William Talbott builds on the work of John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, J.S. Mill, Amartya Sen, and Henry Shue to explain how, over the course of history, human beings have learned how to adopt a distinctively moral point of view from which it is possible to make universal, though not infallible, judgments of right and wrong. He explains how this distinctively moral point of view has led to the discovery of the moral importance of nine basic rights. Undoubtedly, the most controversial issue raised by the claim of universal rights is the issue of moral relativism. How can the advocate of universal rights avoid being a moral imperialist? In this book, Talbott shows how to defend basic individual rights from a universal moral point of view that is neither imperialistic nor relativistic. Talbott avoids moral imperialism by insisting that all of us, himself included, have moral blindspots and that we usually depend on others to help us to identify those blindspots. Talbott's book speaks to not only debates on human rights but to broader issues of moral and cultural relativism, and will interest a broad range of readers.

Revue de presse

"Talbott introduces an ambitious framework for identifying as universal those human rights essential to propelling moral 'progress.' The author's provocative discussion features numerous prominent philosophers and richly examined and illustrated philosophical issues. Highly recommended."--American Library Association

"No other work I am aware of comes close in making the consequentialist approach to rights come alive. Talbott somehow manages to provide the most detailed and skillful account of the philosophical, institutional, and empirical complexity of this approach without ever letting us lose sight of the simple humanitarianism that motivates it."-- Liam Murphy, New York University

This book deserves a wide readership. Whatever one's thousand disagreements with it, it is a fascinating exercise in ambitious liberal minimalism. By this I mean that it is not yet another lame attempt to promote a liberalism without universal rational foundations, but rather an effort to supply these as parsimoniously as possible. Whatever our doubts about the feasibility of this project, we are beholden to Talbott for undertaking it, and can all benefit from wrestling with the ingenuity with which he prosecutes it. --Clifford Owin, University of Toronto

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press Inc
• Date d'édition: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0195173473
• ISBN 13: 9780195173475
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 232
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Messaggerie Libri; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; Italie