Human Rights : Old Problems, New Possibilities

Reflecting on the various dichotomies through which human rights have traditionally been understood, this book takes account of recent developments in both theories of rights and in international human rights law to present new ways of thinking about some long-standing problems. Leading legal and political philosophers, social theorists and scholars of international law discuss traditional dilemmas and taxonomies in human rights theory, engaging with contemporary scholarship and current practice. The book examines various tensions, such as those between legal and moral rights, positive and negative rights, universal and particular rights, and group and individual rights. Encouraging new thinking about conventional understandings of human rights, this book will strongly appeal to international lawyers, legal and political philosophers, as well as graduate students and upper-level undergraduate students in law and philosophy.