Anat Biletzki: Philosophy of Human Rights. A Systematic Introduction
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Anat Biletzki: Philosophy of Human Rights. A Systematic Introduction New York/London: Routledge, 2020. Paperback (ISBN: 978-1-13878735-3) € 145 / Hardback (ISBN: 978-1-138-78734-6) € 39. 260+xxiv pp. Matthias Katzer 1 Accepted: 28 April 2020/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
What can philosophy tell us about human rights? The recent debate is often narrowed down to two alternative ways of conceptualizing human rights: a “moral” view in which human rights are general norms at the basis of morality, and a “political” view in which they are norms specifically designed for the international political realm. In her introduction to the philosophy of human rights, Anat Biletzki makes a substantial effort to broaden the picture of issues and positions that the philosophical debate ought to consider. Being an introductory text, the book does not aim to defend in depth any one particular view of human rights. Instead, it “wants to provide a systematic study of the conceptual and historical dealings with the term and of the roots of the practice” (p. xviii). Still, already by virtue of the selection of materials, Biletzki implicitly proffers a certain perspective on what human rights are and, on some particular issues, she takes sides explicitly. The book has four parts, each containing several chapters. In Part I, which introduces many fundamental concepts and questions, Biletzki describes the structure of human rights as follows: while all individuals are right-holders, states are the bearers of the corresponding duties (p. 5), and international institutions have the power “to prescribe and ensure their accordance universally” (p. 6). Thus, international law and politics do play an important role in her account of human rights. Correspondingly, Biletzki reviews relevant parts of international law in Chapter 2 and returns to the issue in other segments of her book. However, for Biletzki the idea of human rights fundamentally stems from conceptions of justice within particular societies. More precisely, she thinks that the idea of human rights is rooted in “philosophicalpolitical liberal thought” from the seventeenth century onwards (p. 4). This is why Part II surveys what Biletzki views as important elements of this tradition: theories of justice (Hobbes, Locke, Mill, Rawls) and of rights (Hohfeld, Hart, Dworkin, Raz), all the way to contemporary theories of human rights (Perry, Gewirth, Nussbaum, Pogge).
* Matthias Katzer [email protected]–goettingen.de
1
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
M. Katzer, A. Biletzki
Looking at the last group, some observers might find that the list lacks some important recent works, including those of Beitz, Buchanan, and Tasioulas, although some of these are discussed in later chapters. Part III presents current debates on various specific questions. In Chapter 7, Biletzki discusses different views on the universalism and relativism of norms. She suggests that the best approach is to take a nuanced position between these conflicting views (p. 101), while at the sam
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