Transformations in Medieval and Early-Modern Rights Discourse (The New Synthese Historical Library)
Contributors: Virpi Mäkinen (Editor); Petter Korkman (Editor)
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: Springer
Published: December 16, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9781402042119
Subjects: Jurisprudence & General Issues; Law; Politics / Current Events; General; History & Theory - General; Political Science / History & Theory; natural duties; natural rights; rights discourse; self-ownership; Civil rights; History; Human rights; Natural law
Description: Rights language is a fundamental feature of the modern world. Virtually all significant social and political struggles are waged, and have been waged for over a century now, in terms of rights claims. In some ways, it is precisely the birth of modern rights language that ushers in modernity in terms of moral and political thought, and the struggle for a modern way of life seems for many synonymous with the fight for a universal recognition of equal, individual human rights. Where did modern rights language come from? What kinds of rights discourses is it rooted in? What is the specific nature of modern rights discourse; when and where were medieval and ancient notions of rights transformed into it? Can one in fact find any single such transformation of medieval into modern rights discourse? The present volume brings together some of the most central scholars in the history of medieval and early-modern rights discourse. Through the different angles taken by its authors, the volume brings to light the multifaceted nature of rights languages in the medieval and early modern world.