Subjects:

Human Rights and Civil Liberties

The book is divided into five parts: the first includes an explanation of the role of conceptual analysis within jurisprudence, while the second conducts a re-examination of Hohfeld's analysis of rights, dealing with the arguments advanced by modern theorists including Hart, White and MacCormick. The third part contains the author's own framework for discussing rights, including examples drawn from tort, constitutional law and international law, alongside analysis of Unger's theory of rights. Part four centres on the perceived conflict between Dworkin, Rawls and Nozick as the defenders of a rights approach, and Bentham as the champion of utilitarianism, and concludes that neither deals with the fundamental concerns of morality on which their theories are based. The fifth part reflects on the key themes and considers the role of rights within general theory.