Publishing Institution: Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver

Author:: Jamie Mayerfeld, Henry Shue, Jack Donnelly, Kok-Chor Tan, Charles Beitz, and Brooke A. Ackerly
Publication Date:: 01-2007
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Human Rights and Human Welfare - Review Essays
Institution:: Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Abstract:: The struggle for human rights has been shadowed by philosophical doubt. Can we assert universal human rights without engaging in moral imperialism? Can we have confidence in the moral beliefs that underlie human rights claims? Can we justify human rights to those who do not believe in the intrinsic value of autonomy? Which Rights Should Be Universal?, the first of two projected volumes on human rights, is a significant contribution to this literature. In a series of original and mind-opening arguments, William Talbott, a professor of philosophy at the University of Washington, lifts us over one philosophical impasse after another. Admirers of Which Rights Should Be Universal? will find their thinking about human rights enlarged and enhanced by a wealth of new concepts; critics will be kept busy in answering the book's copious arguments. From any perspective, Professor Talbott's book moves the conversation about human rights onto a new plane.
Topic:: Civil Society, Development, Gender Issues, Human Rights, Political Economy, and Post Colonialism
Political Geography:: Global Focus

Author:: William J. Talbott
Publication Date:: 01-2007
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Human Rights and Human Welfare - Review Essays
Institution:: Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Abstract:: I want to thank my critics for their excellent comments. Before I try to respond to them, let me say something about the project that I intend to be contributing to. In my book, I ask the question: which rights should beuniversal? The book is the first of two volumes that try to answer it. In the first volume, which is the only one that has been published so far, I focus on the big picture and outline, in general terms, a list of nine basic rights. I provide both consequentialist and non-consequentialist rationales for the rights on my list. In the second volume Human Rights and Human Well-Being(forthcoming),I explain why I favor the consequentialist rationale over the non-consequentialist rationale, I specify more precisely the contours of the basic rights, and I consider which other rights should be universal.
Topic:: Human Rights

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