Seeing the myth in human rights

Abstract

Seeing the myth in human rights is a work of outstanding and meticulous scholarship that rewards readers with insight into the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ethical and political aspirations of its authors and the complex modes of meaning and value which informed them and continue to inform the declaration's reception today. Jenna Reinbold supplies carefully reasoned philosophical, ethical and sociological analysis. The author's religious studies perspective provides a genuinely original framework for analysing the declaration and yields new insights into its qualities, purpose and the quasi-sacred status to which its authors sought to elevate it. This book can be recommended for scholars of human rights and for advanced students with a specific interest in the creation of the Universal Declaration. In four core chapters, Reinbold analyses the aims of the declaration and illustrates its ethical, intellectual, sociological and emotional facets. One of her key concerns...