In Defense of Human Rights

The argument that religion provides the only compelling foundation for human rights is both challenging and thought-provoking and answering it is of fundamental importance to the furthering of the human rights agenda. This book establishes an equally compelling non-religious foundation for the idea of human rights, engaging with the writings of many key thinkers in the field, including Michael J. Perry, Alan Gewirth, Ronald Dworkin and Richard Rorty. Ari Kohen draws on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a political consensus of overlapping ideas from cultures and communities around the world that establishes the dignity of humans and argues that this dignity gives rise to collective human rights. In constructing this consensus, we have succeeded in establishing a practical non-religious foundation upon which the idea of human rights can rest.In Defense of Human Rights will be of interest to students and scholars of political theory, philosophy, religious studies and human rights.

"The justification to others of what we take to be the foundation of the human-rights ideas eventually reaches an impasse beyond which no argument can take us. Here, the debate is moved forward not by answers but by questions, new perspectives, and thoughtful reconsiderations of older ones. In this Kohen excels. Reading his discussion of other authors is like sitting in the classroom of a gifted teacher, listening to clear, fair-minded, even generous critiques of complex arguments delivered in a style both pleasant and engaging."Perspectives on Politics 6.2, 2008 "Kohen’s locating human rights in a deliberative process has much to recommend it. Namely, its construction of rights in a free and equal discourse is by definition more inclusive and respectful of differing practices and traditions than the Enlightenment approaches that Rorty condemned… Kohen’s program will be viewed sympathetically amongst many in liberal democracies with robust histories of such traditions. But it is an open question whether or not non-liberal societies – or even newly emerging ones like Russia – are prepared to meet Kohen’s challenge. Nevertheless, In Defense of Human Rights represents a fine contribution to the growing literature on its chosen subject and must be regarded as essential reading for all engaged with these matters."Philosophy in Review, 2007"Kohen’s proposal to defend human rights in terms of a consensus that is global in scope (rather than in metaphysical claims about human nature), if it can be confirmed by historical and contemporary empirical investigation, is a significant improvement over justifications of human rights offered by Perry, Gewirth, and Dworkin, not only in my view, but also in terms of the criteria of inclusivity, persuasiveness, and practicality that Kohen defends."Human Rights Review 7.1, 2007 , "The justification to others of what we take to be the foundation of the human-rights ideas eventually reaches an impasse beyond which no argument can take us. Here, the debate is moved forward not by answers but by questions, new perspectives, and thoughtful reconsiderations of older ones. In this Kohen excels. Reading his discussion of other authors is like sitting in the classroom of a gifted teacher, listening to clear, fair-minded, even generous critiques of complex arguments delivered in a style both pleasant and engaging."Perspectives on Politics 6.2, 2008 "Kohen’s locating human rights in a deliberative process has much to recommend it. Namely, its construction of rights in a free and equal discourse is by definition more inclusive and respectful of differing practices and traditions than the Enlightenment approaches that Rorty condemned… Kohen’s program will be viewed sympathetically amongst many in liberal democracies with robust histories of such traditions. But it is an open question whether or not non-liberal societies – or even newly emerging ones like Russia – are prepared to meet Kohen’s challenge. Nevertheless, In Defense of Human Rights represents a fine contribution to the growing literature on its chosen subject and must be regarded as essential reading for all engaged with these matters."Philosophy in Review, 2007"Kohen’s proposal to defend human rights in terms of a consensus that is global in scope (rather than in metaphysical claims about human nature), if it can be confirmed by historical and contemporary empirical investigation, is a significant improvement over justifications of human rights offered by Perry, Gewirth, and Dworkin, not only in my view, but also in terms of the criteria of inclusivity, persuasiveness, and practicality that Kohen defends."Human Rights Review 7.1, 2007 "...this book represents a fine contribution to the growing literature on its chosen subject, and it must be regarded as essential reading for all engaged with these matters."David Lay Williams, University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point

Ari Kohen has been Assistant Professor of Justice Studies and Political Science at James Madison University, USA; from August 2007, he will be Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.