The Relational Self and Human Rights: Paul Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics of Suspicion

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Synopsis
This book takes up Paul Ricoeur’s relational idea of the self in order to rethink the basis of human rights. Many schools of critical theory argue that the idea of human rights is based on a problematic conception of the human subject and the legal person. For liberals, the human is a possessive and self-interested individual, such that others are either tools or hurdles in their projects. This book offers a novel reading of subjectivity and rights based on Paul Ricœur’s re-interpretation of human subjectivity as a relational concept. Taking up Ricoeur’s idea of recognition as a ‘reciprocal gift’, it argues that gift exchange is the relation upon which authentic, non-abstract, human subjectivity is based. Seen in this context, human rights can be understood as tokens of mutual recognition, securing a genuinely human life for all. The conception of human rights as gift effectively counters their moral individualism and possessiveness, as the philosophical anthropology of an isolated ego is replaced by that of a related, dependent and embedded self. This original reinterpretation of human rights will appeal to scholars of legal theory, jurisprudence, politics and philosophy.
Copyright:
2022

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
232 Pages
ISBN-13:
9781000583397
Related ISBNs:
9781032249094, 9781003280675, 9781032249100
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
N/A
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Nonfiction, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Philosophy, Politics and Government, Sociology
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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