David Bilchitz graduated cum laude from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1997 with a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and in 1999 with a law degree (LLB). In 2000, he worked as law clerk to the current Chief Justice of South Africa, Pius Langa when the famous Grootboom case was decided. He graduated from St. John's College, University of Cambridge with an Mphil degree in Philosophy in 2001 and a PhD degree in 2004 with a thesis that combined political philosophy and constitutional law. He currently works for Ross Kriel Attorneys, a law firm that together with its sister organisation, Ashira Consulting, specialises in the law relating to the public sector. He is also a part-time lecturer in jurisprudence at the University of the Witwatersrand

David Bilchitz has written an admirable book of breathtaking scope

• Preface ; Foreword ; Introduction ; 1. Towards a Thin Theory of the Good ; Introduction ; Value and Point of View ; Nussbaum and the Notion of a Human Life ; Rawls and the Concept of the Person ; Drawing Fact and Value Together: Experience and Purpose ; In Defence of the Proposed Theory of Value ; Judgments of Priority ; Conclusion ; 2. The Justification of Fundamental Rights ; Introduction ; The Presuppositions of Agency and Fundamental Rights ; Nagel's Strategy: Impersonal and Personal Reasons ; Political Communities and the Justification of Fundamental Rights ; Objections ; Conclusion ; 3. Determining Our Unconditional Obligations ; Introduction ; Unanswered Questions About the Content of Rights ; Conditional and Unconditional Rights ; Translating Conditional Rights into Unconditional Rights ; The Assignment of Duties ; The Overall Decision Framework ; Conclusion ; 4. Justifying the Judicial Review of Fundamental Rights ; Introduction ; Theories of Judicial Review ; Disagreement, Rights, and Judicial Review ; A Thin Rights-Based Theory of Judicial Review ; Reaching Optimal Decisions Concerning Fundamental Rights: The Judiciary or the Legislature? ; Socio-Economic Rights and Judicial Review ; Conclusion ; 5. Judicial Review in Practice: The Reasonableness Approach and its Shortcomings ; Introduction ; Constitutional Interpretation in South Africa ; Grootboom: Reasonableness and the Minimum Core ; Treatment Action Campaign: Reducing Rights to Reasonableness ; An Alternative Reading of the Jurisprudence? ; Khosa: Reasonableness and the Confusion of Scope and Content ; Conclusion ; 6. Political Philosophy in Action: Developing the Minimum Core Approach to Socio-Economic Rights ; Introduction ; Linking Political Philosophy and Legal Doctrine ; The Case for a Minimum Core Approach ; Objections to the Minimum Core Approach ; The Notion of Priority and the Minimum Core ; Resources, Impossibility, and Rights ; The Availability of Resources ; Conclusion ; Conclusion: Implications for Policy in South Africa and Beyond ; The Right to Food in the United States, India, and South Africa ; The Right to Adequate Housing in the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index

David Bilchitz graduated cum laude from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1997 with a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and in 1999 with a law degree (LLB). In 2000, he worked as law clerk to the current Chief Justice of South Africa, Pius Langa when the famous Grootboom case was decided. He graduated from St. John's College, University of Cambridge with an Mphil degree in Philosophy in 2001 and a PhD degree in 2004 with a thesis that combined political philosophy and constitutional law. He currently works for Ross Kriel Attorneys, a law firm that together with its sister organisation, Ashira Consulting, specialises in the law relating to the public sector. He is also a part-time lecturer in jurisprudence at the University of the Witwatersrand

David Bilchitz has written an admirable book of breathtaking scope

• Preface ; Foreword ; Introduction ; 1. Towards a Thin Theory of the Good ; Introduction ; Value and Point of View ; Nussbaum and the Notion of a Human Life ; Rawls and the Concept of the Person ; Drawing Fact and Value Together: Experience and Purpose ; In Defence of the Proposed Theory of Value ; Judgments of Priority ; Conclusion ; 2. The Justification of Fundamental Rights ; Introduction ; The Presuppositions of Agency and Fundamental Rights ; Nagel's Strategy: Impersonal and Personal Reasons ; Political Communities and the Justification of Fundamental Rights ; Objections ; Conclusion ; 3. Determining Our Unconditional Obligations ; Introduction ; Unanswered Questions About the Content of Rights ; Conditional and Unconditional Rights ; Translating Conditional Rights into Unconditional Rights ; The Assignment of Duties ; The Overall Decision Framework ; Conclusion ; 4. Justifying the Judicial Review of Fundamental Rights ; Introduction ; Theories of Judicial Review ; Disagreement, Rights, and Judicial Review ; A Thin Rights-Based Theory of Judicial Review ; Reaching Optimal Decisions Concerning Fundamental Rights: The Judiciary or the Legislature? ; Socio-Economic Rights and Judicial Review ; Conclusion ; 5. Judicial Review in Practice: The Reasonableness Approach and its Shortcomings ; Introduction ; Constitutional Interpretation in South Africa ; Grootboom: Reasonableness and the Minimum Core ; Treatment Action Campaign: Reducing Rights to Reasonableness ; An Alternative Reading of the Jurisprudence? ; Khosa: Reasonableness and the Confusion of Scope and Content ; Conclusion ; 6. Political Philosophy in Action: Developing the Minimum Core Approach to Socio-Economic Rights ; Introduction ; Linking Political Philosophy and Legal Doctrine ; The Case for a Minimum Core Approach ; Objections to the Minimum Core Approach ; The Notion of Priority and the Minimum Core ; Resources, Impossibility, and Rights ; The Availability of Resources ; Conclusion ; Conclusion: Implications for Policy in South Africa and Beyond ; The Right to Food in the United States, India, and South Africa ; The Right to Adequate Housing in the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index