Human rights : concept and context /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Orend, Brian, 1971-
Imprint:Peterborough, Ont. ; Orchard, N.Y. : Broadview Press, c2002.
Description:272 p. ; 23 cm.
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/4740429
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ISBN:1551114364 : $29.95
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Review by Choice Review

This first-rate volume, by a philosophy professor from the University of Waterloo, has few rivals. Divided between concept (the longer and more philosophical section) and historical context, Human Rights provides a succinct yet challenging, nuanced analysis in part 1; this section includes basic vocabulary, holders of human rights, their justifications and objects, their duties, and criticisms of human rights. "Ultimate principles" justify human rights, at first- and second-level specifications of objects and of correlative duties. Cross-cultural consensus exists, Orend continues, "since the human rights idea is so thin and minimal, so elemental and fundamental to people's understanding of how a person ought minimally to be treated ... [however] there is much room above this minimal threshold for cultural differences, ethical pluralism and unique customs and traditions" (author's italics). Part 2 (roughly one-third the length of part 1) will be more familiar to those teaching the historical, legal, and political contexts within which human rights have been respected or violated; its brevity may disappoint some. Orend rounds out his book with key human rights documents from the US, France, the UN, and Canada as well as a useful research guide to other documents and research sites. Recommended for lower- and upper-division undergraduate students and graduates. C. E. Welch SUNY at Buffalo

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review