Human rights as politics and idolatry
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Bibliographic Information
Human rights as politics and idolatry
（The University Center for Human Values series）（Princeton paperbacks）
Princeton University Press, 2003, c2001
- : pbk
- Other Title
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Human rights
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Note
"Third printing, and first paperback printing, 2003"--T.p. verso
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Michael Ignatieff draws on his extensive experience as a writer and commentator on world affairs to present a penetrating account of the successes, failures, and prospects of the human rights revolution. Since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, this revolution has brought the world moral progress and broken the nation-state's monopoly on the conduct of international affairs. But it has also faced challenges. Ignatieff argues that human rights activists have rightly drawn criticism from Asia, the Islamic world, and within the West itself for being overambitious and unwilling to accept limits. It is now time, he writes, for activists to embrace a more modest agenda and to reestablish the balance between the rights of states and the rights of citizens. Ignatieff begins by examining the politics of human rights, assessing when it is appropriate to use the fact of human rights abuse to justify intervention in other countries. He then explores the ideas that underpin human rights, warning that human rights must not become an idolatry.
In the spirit of Isaiah Berlin, he argues that human rights can command universal assent only if they are designed to protect and enhance the capacity of individuals to lead the lives they wish. By embracing this approach and recognizing that state sovereignty is the best guarantee against chaos, Ignatieff concludes, Western nations will have a better chance of extending the real progress of the past fifty years. Throughout, Ignatieff balances idealism with a sure sense of practical reality earned from his years of travel in zones of war and political turmoil around the globe. Based on the Tanner Lectures that Ignatieff delivered at Princeton University's Center for Human Values in 2000, the book includes two chapters by Ignatieff, an introduction by Amy Gutmann, comments by four leading scholars--K. Anthony Appiah, David A. Hollinger, Thomas W. Laqueur, and Diane F. Orentlicher--and a response by Ignatieff.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Amy Gutmann vii HUMAN RIGHTS AS POLITICS AND IDOLATRY by Michael Ignatieff Human Rights as Politics 3 Human Rights as Idolatry 53 COMMENTS Grounding Human Rights by K. Anthony Appiah 101 Debates with the PTA and Others by David A. Hollinger 117 The Moral Imagination and Human Rights by Thomas W. Laqueur 127 Relativism and Religion by Diane F. Orentlicher 141 RESPONSE TO COMMENTATORS by Michael Ignatieff Dignity and Agency 161 Contributors 175 Index 177
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