PHL 5026 Law, Rights, and Morality
The U.N. Declaration of Human Rights asserts that the "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." Today, such references to rights are not infrequent. In fact, rights talk is downright ubiquitous, and we find a remarkable variety of moral debates being couched in the language of human rights. The purpose of this course is to consider the nature of rights claims: what is being said when one asserts that he or she has a right to something? What, if anything, justifies rights claims? Is it possible to objectively evaluate competing rights claims?