A J M Milne – författare

The moral justification for government is, that it is needed to promote the community's interest. What is that interest an interest in? Upon what basis can disagreements about the community's interest and individual interests be reconciled? Perhaps, if people are prepared to meet the requirements of democratic citizenship.

At the turn of the century Idealism was perhaps the leading school of philosophy in the English-speaking world. By the 1960s the situation was very different. There had occurred during the previous two generations what has been described as ‘a revolution in philosophy’, one consequence of which had been the almost total eclipse of Idealism. Originally published in 1962, this book is a critical study of certain aspects of the work of four Idealist philosophers: F. H. Bradley, T. H. Green, Bernard Bosanquet and Josiah Royce. It deals mainly with their social philosophy, but some consideration is also given to their metaphysics. It is the thesis of this book that there is a valid and significant form of Idealism to be found in the work of these philosophers, but that they did not succeed in developing it fully and consistently.

At the turn of the century Idealism was perhaps the leading school of philosophy in the English-speaking world. By the 1960s the situation was very different. There had occurred during the previous two generations what has been described as ‘a revolution in philosophy’, one consequence of which had been the almost total eclipse of Idealism. Originally published in 1962, this book is a critical study of certain aspects of the work of four Idealist philosophers: F. H. Bradley, T. H. Green, Bernard Bosanquet and Josiah Royce. It deals mainly with their social philosophy, but some consideration is also given to their metaphysics. It is the thesis of this book that there is a valid and significant form of Idealism to be found in the work of these philosophers, but that they did not succeed in developing it fully and consistently.

This original and provocative book is concerned with fundamental questions in moral, political, and legal philosophy. It challenges both supporters and sceptics alike to rethink their ideas about human rights. The author explains that human life is not the same everywhere, noting that there are different traditions of culture and civilization. He argues that an adequate idea of human rights must take such a diversity seriously, and unlike the UN Declaration, it must not presuppose Western institutions and values.This theory of human rights developed by Milne deals systematically with the philosophical issues it raises. He shows that human rights can only be a minimum standard, not a panacea for the troubles of humanity. And that this significance, although modest, should not be underrated.