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List of contents
1. Legal philosophy and human rights; Part I. Backgrounds of the universal declaration; 2. The political and juridical context of the universal declaration; 3. The philosophical context of the universal declaration; 4. Human dignity; 5. Intermezzo I; Part II. Negative freedom: 6. Everyone has the right to life; 7. No one shall be subjected to torture; 8. No one shall be unfairly punished; 9. Everyone has the right to their own space; 10. Everyone has the right to property; Part III. Positive freedom; 11. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country; 12. Everyone has the right to 'nationality'; 13. Everyone has the right to belong; 14. Everyone has the right to a decent standard of living; 15. Everyone has the right to international legal protection; Part IV. Duties and virtues: 16. Intermezzo II; 17. Everyone has the duty to obedience; 18. Everyone has the duty to behave with moderation.
About the author
Thomas Mertens is a specialist on the relationship between law and morality. He has published extensively on human rights, Kant's moral and legal philosophy, the just war tradition and law and morality in Nazi-Germany. He teaches at Radboud University Nijmegen and has also held adjacent positions at Leiden University and Catholic University Leuven.
Summary
Everybody has heard of human rights. But what are human rights, where do they originate and what do they mean? This book answers these questions, offering a multifaceted introduction to legal philosophy. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides the frame for engaging with western legal philosophy across the ages.
Additional text
'Thomas Mertens' book is much more than a handbook on human rights: it uses this topic as a starting point for introducing the readers to philosophy of law and its many questions. Given the centrality of human rights in our societies, this is a justified, clever move. While analysing some major rights as they are stated by the UDHR, Mertens discusses a wide range of arguments for and against their universal or absolute character. In doing so, he invites us to an intellectual tour de force in which history of philosophy and theoretical argumentation are ingeniously intertwined. This ambitious endeavour goes together with philosophical honesty and restraint: the author never forces his position on the readers; he just presents them with the philosophical tools to form their opinion. Also for this reason, this compelling introduction to philosophy of law is highly enjoyable and instructive.' Alessandro Pinzani, Professor of Political Philosophy at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil
