Legitimizing Human Rights

Dr Angus Menuge is Professor and Chair of Philosophy, Concordia University, Wisconsin, USA. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of philosophy of mind, and science. He has published widely on these and related issues.

Contents: Introduction, Angus J.L. Menuge; Part I The Foundation of Human Rights: Grounding human rights: naturalism’s failure and Biblical theism’s success, Paul Copan; Theism and human rights, Paul Cliteur; Why human rights cannot be naturalized: the contingency problem, Angus J.L. Menuge; Human rights as legal rights, Friedrich Toepel. Part II Religious Liberty and the Secular State: Human rights in a secular state will depend on its legal; definition of religion, John H. Calvert; Balancing secularism with religious freedom: in Lautsi v Italy, the European Court of Human Rights evolved, Vito Breda; Restrictions on religious freedom: when and how justified?, John Warwick Montgomery. Part III Enforcing and Motivating Human Rights: No human rights without retribution: plights and promises of redress as if nothing happened, Hendrik Kaptein; The motivation to protect and advance human rights: a faith-based approach, Dallas Miller; Why is Man the primary and functional way for the Church?: the involvement of Christian teaching in the contemporary human rights discourse, Dobrochna Bach-Golecka; Index.