Benjamin Gregg’s book, Human Rights as Social Construction,
propounds an understanding of human rights that is based upon ‘a wholly
naturalistic conception’ of humanity, one ‘that takes human nature as
biologically understood and eschews supernatural explanations, whether
theological or metaphysical’ (p. 185). He oscillates between two
conceptions of this project: an abstemious, neo-Rawlsian political
liberalism, and a comprehensive view that rejects religious and
metaphysical claims.
I review the book, with a response from Prof. Gregg, in the current issue of Contemporary Political Theory, here.