Positive Rights in a Republic of Talk A Survey and a Critique
Positive Rights in a Republic of Talk will appeal to philosophers and social scientists interested in issues of rights and social justice, and to graduate students and journalists seeking a critical survey of the field. Innumerable recent books have addre
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Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture VOLUME 10
Series Editor H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Department of Philosophy, Rice University, and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas Associate Editor Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., Department of Philosophy and Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Assistant Editor Lisa Rasmussen, Instructor, University of Alabama, Birmingham Editorial Board Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University, Durham, N.C. Maureen Kelley, University of Alabama, Birmingham Terry Pinkard, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois Griffin Trotter, Saint Louis University, Missour
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
POSITIVE RIGHTS IN A REPUBLIC OF TALK A Survey and a Critique
by
THOMAS HALPER Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, U.S.A
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-94-010-4002-0 ISBN 978-94-010-0080-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-010-0080-2
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2003 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
For my dear Marilyn (who’s earned it)
CONTENTS Acknowledgments Preface 1 2 3 4 5
Rights Talk and Rights Broad Positive Rights Narrow Positive Rights and Libertarian Alternatives The American Political and Constitutional Context Some Final Words
References Index
page ix xi 1 21 91 129 169 175 201
ix
PREFACE
Each and every one of us, in our own way, must assume personal responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families but for our neighbors and our nation. — President Clinton, Second Inaugural Address (“Transcript”)
This book represents an effort to understand and explain one of the principal controversies inherent in political life: to what extent and under what circumstances are we entitled, via a coercive state, to help from our fellows? It is a question with enormous implications, political, economic, social, legal, and, not least, philosophical. Its prominence and importance have generated widespread interest and discussion, which have dispersed confusion more than dispelled it. This book aims to liquidate a bit of that confusion. It is a theoretical work, but one intended to cast light on practice, on public policies, on official and private discourse. It belongs not only to what Tocqueville called the kingdom of reason but also to what he named the empire of example. The imagination required to pursue arguments and principles
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