Ethics & International Affairs is pleased to announce the publication of its summer 2014 issue.
This issue features essays by Roger Berkowitz on "Drones and the Question of 'The Human'" and Alan Sussman on the philosophical foundations of human rights; a special centennial roundtable on "The Future of Human Rights," featuring Beth A. Simmons, Philip Alston, James W. Nickel, Jack Donnelly, and Andrew Gilmour; a review essay by Jens Bartelson on empire and sovereignty; and book reviews by Dale Jamieson, Tom Bailey, and Simon Cotton.
ESSAYS
Drones and the Question of "The Human" Roger Berkowitz In our headlong embrace of drone technology, we are forgetting to ask two basic questions: What is a drone? And what does it mean that the once obvious boundary separating human and machine intelligence is being diminished?
Why Human Rights Are Called Human Rights [Full Text] Alan Sussman No one can engage in commerce when deprived of liberty or autonomy. No one can create or imagine or love when consumed by fear. We need human rights to permit ourselves the possibility of being human.
ROUNDTABLE: THE FUTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS The Future of the Human Rights Movement Beth A. Simmons More than twenty years have passed since the end of the Cold War, and the time when people spoke in triumphal terms of the global success of Western values is now a fading memory. The modern human rights movement is at a critical juncture in its history. Against a World Court for Human Rights Philip Alston A World Court is not just an idea whose time has not yet come. The very idea fundamentally misconceives the nature of the challenges confronting an international community dedicated to eliminating major human rights violations What Future for Human Rights? James W. Nickel The field of human rights covers many different beliefs, norms, institutions, and activities, and these may well have different futures. Some may flourish while others wither—along with the social movements that support them. State Sovereignty and International Human Rights Jack Donnelly An increasingly robust international politics of human rights will provide valuable support to domestic advocates, help to impede backsliding, and in at least a few cases decisively tip the balance in favor of human rights at moments of transition.
The Future of Human Rights: A View from the United Nations Andrew Gilmour It is with respect to human rights that the UN has experienced some of its greatest shortcomings. The new "Rights up Front" plan may help remedy that deficiency.
REVIEW ESSAY
From Empire to Sovereignty—and Back? Jens Bartelson How do empires and sovereign states relate, conceptually as well as historically? It is no coincidence that many historians of political thought are in the process of rewriting the history of sovereignty in light of its changing status.
REVIEWS [Full Text]
Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World by John Broome Review by Dale Jamieson This book greatly contributes to our attempts to meet the challenge of climate change and to answer the difficult questions that it raises. Global Justice and Avant-Garde Political Agency by Lea Ypi Review by Tom Bailey In this book, Ypi proposes that theory begin with a specific political conflict, diagnose the failure of existing practices and norms to resolve it, and, in this light, develop better practices and norms.
Fairness in Practice: A Social Contract for a Global Economy by Aaron James Review by Simon Cotton This book brings political economy, international relations, and development economics into conversation with moral philosophy, making a critical contribution to the ethics of globalization.
