Toward a Theory of Human Rights : Religion, Law, Courts

The morality of human rights - which holds that each and every human being has inherent dignity and is inviolable - has become the dominant morality of our time. Yet neither the morality of human rights nor its relation to the law of human rights is well understood. Toward a Theory of Human Rights makes a significant contribution both to human rights studies and to constitutional theory.

Neither the morality of human rights nor its relation to the law of human rights is well understood. In this book, Michael Perry addresses three large issues. There is undeniably a religious ground - indeed, more than one religious ground - for the morality of human rights. But is there a secular ground for the morality of human rights? What is the relation between the morality of human rights and the law of human rights? Perry here addresses the controversial issues of capital punishment, abortion, and same-sex unions. What is the proper role of courts, in a liberal democracy, in protecting - and therefore in interpreting - constitutionally entrenched human rights? In considering this question, special attention is paid to the Supreme Court and how it should rule on issues such as capital punishment and abortion. Toward a Theory of Human Rights makes a significant contribution both to human rights studies and to constitutional theory.