Which Rights Should Be Universal?

230 Pages·2007·2.06 MB·English

by  William Talbott

Which Rights Should Be
Universal?
WILLIAM J. TALBOTT
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Which Rights Should Be Universal?
Which Rights Should
Be Universal?
WILLIAM J. TALBOTT
1

3
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Talbott,W.J.
Whichrightsshouldbeuniversal?/WilliamJ.Talbott.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-----
ISBN---
. Humanrights—Philosophy. . Humanrights—Moralandethicalaspects. I. Title.
JC.T 
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
To my parents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book began as a public lecture at the University of Washington in
January . The idea grew to become a chapter, then a book, then two
books, of which this is the first. The second volume (Human Rights and Hu-
manWell-Being)willalsobepublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress.
The book has benefited from the contributions of many people. I used
part of the manuscript in a joint seminar that I taught with my colleague
in political science Jamie Mayerfeld in the winter of . I received many
goodsuggestionsfromthemembersoftheseminar,especiallyfromKather-
ineKimandGracePastine.
I presented a draft of several chapters to an interdisciplinary group of
humanities scholars at the University of Washington’s Simpson Center for
the Humanities in the fall of . I particularly benefited from the com-
ments of Bruce Burgett, Margit Dementi Rankin, Shannon Dudley, Dianah
LeighJackson,andKathleenWoodward.
Ihavealsobenefitedfromdiscussioninmyundergraduateclasses,espe-
cially from questions asked by Dakota Solberg-Moen and Andrew Ness. I
wasfortunatetobeabletodiscusspartofthemanuscriptwithaninterdisci-
plinary group of faculty at Green River Community College in February
.Inthespring of,Ihadanopportunityto presentapartialdraft
of the book in a series of five lectures to a nonacademic audience in the
Wednesday University, a joint program of Seattle Arts & Lectures and the
U.W.SimpsonCenterfortheHumanities.
WorkonthisbookhasbeensupportedbyasummergrantfromtheU.W.
Human Rights Education and Research Center, by a one-quarter release
from teachingfunded bythe U.W.Simpson Centerfor the Humanities,and
byasabbaticalleavefromtheUniversityofWashington.
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have received valuable comments from many people on drafts of vari-
ouschapters,includingJeffClausen,DavidKeyt,BruceKochis,ThomasMc-
Carthy, Tom Nagel, Paul Taylor, Martin Tweedale, Jay Wallace, and an
anonymous referee. Elijah Millgram and Liam Murphy provided detailed
and very useful comments on several chapters. Jacques Corriveau, Kather-
ine Kim, and John Talbott read and commented on an early version of the
full manuscript. Katherine Kim helped with the proofreading of the final
version.Ialsowanttothankthefollowingmembersoftheeditorialstaffat
Oxford University Press for their contributions: Stacey Hamilton, Merryl
Sloane, Lara Zoble, and especially Peter Ohlin for his encouragement and
guidancethroughoutthepublicationprocess.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to Jamie Mayerfeld. Over the years, I
have discussed many of these issues with Jamie; in the winter of  we
cotaughtacoursethatgavememanyideasforthebook;andoverthepast
three years Jamie has commented on many drafts of many chapters. His
goodadvicehashelpedmeinmorewaysthanIcanlist.
I want to thank my daughters, Kate and Rebecca, for teaching me so
much about the rewards of child rearing as well as for being such a good
audience for my ideas over so many years. I am grateful to my stepdaugh-
ter, Erin Burchfield, who challenged me to articulate the appeal of moral
relativism and who also provided me with information about the life of
women in Nepal after she spent a semester there. Finally, I want to thank
my wife, Judy, who has provided me with the encouragement and emo-
tional support that enabled me to write the book, has proofread the entire
manuscript, has provided me with many suggestions that improved the
book,andhastaughtmesomuchaboutempathicunderstanding.
CONTENTS
 Introduction 
 The Proof Paradigm and the Moral Discovery
Paradigm 
 Cultural Relativism about Human Rights 
 An Epistemically Modest Universal Moral Standpoint 
 The Development of Women’s Rights as a Microcosm
of the Development of Human Rights 
 Autonomy Rights 
 Political Rights 
 Clarifications and Objections 
 Conclusion 
Notes 
References 
Index 
Which Rights Should Be Universal?