Rights are basic building blocks of the contemporary state and yet their rigorous justification is notoriously difficult. This book provides a thorough analysis of this central topic in modern political discourse. The book challenges the orthodox view that rights are a type of property claim in one's body.Drawing on the tradition of the social contract as well as the wealth of recent work in political theory the book argues for a different conception of rights. Rights are conceived as a certain type of political claim, justified by a Kantian ideal of autonomy. Moreover, that justification provides a moral basis for rights that, while independent of law and custom, is also tied to an image of citizenship particularly suited to the pluralistic nature of contemporary liberal society.

Rights are basic building blocks of the contemporary state and yet their rigorous justification is notoriously difficult. This book provides a thorough analysis of this central topic in modern political discourse. The book challenges the orthodox view that rights are a type of property claim in one's body.Drawing on the tradition of the social contract as well as the wealth of recent work in political theory the book argues for a different conception of rights. Rights are conceived as a certain type of political claim, justified by a Kantian ideal of autonomy. Moreover, that justification provides a moral basis for rights that, while independent of law and custom, is also tied to an image of citizenship particularly suited to the pluralistic nature of contemporary liberal society.

Rights are basic building blocks of the contemporary state and yet their rigorous justification is notoriously difficult. This book provides a thorough analysis of this central topic in modern political discourse. The book challenges the orthodox view that rights are a type of property claim in one's body.Drawing on the tradition of the social contract as well as the wealth of recent work in political theory the book argues for a different conception of rights. Rights are conceived as a certain type of political claim, justified by a Kantian ideal of autonomy. Moreover, that justification provides a moral basis for rights that, while independent of law and custom, is also tied to an image of citizenship particularly suited to the pluralistic nature of contemporary liberal society.