An Introduction to Rights

An Introduction to Rights is a readable and accessible introduction to the history, logic, moral implications, and political tendencies of the idea of rights. It is organized chronologically and discusses important historical events such as the French and American Revolutions. It treats a range of historical figures, including Grotius, Paley, Hobbes, Locke, Bentham, Burke, Godwin, Douglass, Mill, and Hohfeld, and relates the concept of rights to contemporary debates such as consequentialism versus contractualism. This thoroughly updated second edition includes a new preface and expands the discussion of the surprising role that slavery has played in the history of rights. It includes new material on egalitarianism, distributive justice, and what the demand for equal rights means.

Author: William A. Edmundson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 01/23/2012
Pages: 200
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.20w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781107010987

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2013

About the Author
Edmundson, William A.: - William A. Edmundson is Regents' Professor of Law and of Philosophy at Georgia State University. He is the author of Three Anarchical Fallacies and is co-editor of The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory.