The Meanings Of Rights

Questioning some of the repetitive and narrow theoretical writings on rights, a group of leading intellectuals examine human rights from philosophical, theological, historical, literary and political perspectives.

A comprehensive overview of the human rights to water and sanitation, exploring theoretical, conceptual, and practical aspects.

A comparative and historical account of the origins and meanings of the discourse of judicial 'balancing' in constitutional rights law.

Underpinned by the work of major thinkers such as Marx, Locke, Weber, Hobbes and Foucault, the first half of the book looks at political concepts including: the state and sovereignty; the nation; democracy; representation and legitimacy; freedom; equiality and rights; obligation; and citizenship. There is also a specific chapter which addresses the role of ideology in the shaping of politics and society. The second half of the book addresses traditional theoretical subjects such as socialism, Marxism and nationalism, before moving on to more contemporary movements such as environmentalism, ecologism and feminism.

This book is a refreshingly unique approach to genealogy and its relationships with Science and Religion. It is the author's answer to the questions posed artistically by the painter Paul Gauguin's masterpiece; ?Where Do We Come From? What Are We Made Of? Where Are We Going?, as reproduced on the book cover. Most religions and cultures make important reference to their genealogies. Science, also, since the advent of Darwin's Theory of Evolution and its subsequent development and culmination in DNA and brain science research, has its own genealogy, telling the story of the pre-history and history of mankind, our migrations and the evolution of our behavior and cultures. The author, trained as both a biologist and lawyer, writing as an independent scholar, examines these questions through the various lenses of genealogy, biology, evidence, religion and philosophy. He considers, first: some basic but little known facts of genealogy; then our common mortality and heritage and brother/sisterhood with all mankind; then the variety of world-views; then the different evidentiary bases for science and religion; then a condensed, but comprehensive view of comparative religion and humanism; then the history of Biblical interpretation and Biblical genealogies; and, finally, the history of mankind as seen by science, including the remarkable recent discoveries of prehistoric man, and brain science. The poetry/prose metaphor is illustrated by insightful examples of both poetry and prose, and brief introductions to some remarkable religious and scientific personalities. The dark side of religion is explored, with contemporary critiques by renowned scholars, and some exemplary poets are referred to with examples of their poetry. This book avoids the combative rhetoric of both religious and scientific extremists, and points the way toward and enriching language and life of religious humanism. This ?new dualism? of poetry and prose reflects the biological facts of our simultaneously emotional and rational selves. Thus, religious humanism provides a natural bridge between religion and science, accessible to everyone. The poetry/prose metaphor can provide a thoughtful rationale for people to keep their religious beliefs and traditions, make peace between religions and also understand and appreciate the modern scientific world without conflict. Thus, genealogy has taken us on a long journey through the history of science and religion, illustrating the mysteries, complexities, and beauties of humanity's existence. The book is well researched and written clearly in an engaging style, with an extensive bibliography. It will be well worth reading by all people who have an interest in genealogy and its relationships with science and religion.

An eminent constitutional scholar reveals how our approach to rights is dividing America, and shows how we can build a better system of justice.

Democracy’s Meanings challenges conventional wisdom regarding how the public thinks about and evaluates democracy. Mining both political theory and more than 75 years of public opinion data, the book argues that Americans think about democracy in ways that go beyond voting or elected representation. Instead, citizens have rich and substantive views about the material conditions that democracy should produce, which draw from their beliefs about equality, fairness, and justice. The authors construct a typology of views about democracy. Procedural views of democracy take a minimalistic quality. While voting and fair treatment are important to this vision of democracy, ideas about equality are mostly limited to civil liberties. In contrast, social views of democracy incorporate both civil and economic equality; according to people with these views, democracy ought to meet the basic social and material needs of citizens. Complementing these two groups are moderate and indifferent views about democracy. While moderate views sit somewhere in between procedural and social perspectives regarding the role of democracy in producing social and economic equality, indifferent views of democracy involve disaffection toward it. For a small group of apathetic citizens, democracy is an ambiguous and ill-defined concept.