Book Review: Charles Beitz, 'The Idea of Human Rights'

Abstract

Human rights is a contested field. Not only do human rights theories originate from different philosophical allegiances in the history of ideas, but disagreements are inherently attached to the diverging nature of justifications that form the basis of each human rights theory. Furthermore, the recognition of human concerns as a right is based on foundational ideas attributed to rights in general. It is within this context that 'The Idea of Human Rights' asks: What are human rights?

Keywords: Human Rights, Discursive, Public Context, Participatory, Normative