The Right to Strike and the Right to Work

ABSTRACT L. J. MacFarlane has contended that the right to strike is a keystone of democratic society. The right to strike is a right to free expression, association, assembly and power. And the right to strike is dependent upon the right to employment. MacFarlane denies that the right to employment is a universal right. I argue that unless the right to work is indeed universal MacFarlane's main contention is false. Forced unemployment is, amongst other things, the denial of full citizen status, for the range of liberties that constitutes the right to strike is essential to full participation in democracy. It is only when the traditional liberty-rights of free expression and striking are seen as being based upon such recipient rights as rights to media space and time and upon the right to work, that they can play their proper democratic role. This conception of those rights is missing from the work of Rawls and Nozick as well as from MacFarlane.     

The Human Right to Subsistence

Is there a human right to subsistence? A satisfactory answer to this question will explain what makes human rights distinctive, what is meant by subsistence, and why subsistence is an appropriate content of a human right. This article situates the human right to subsistence within the context of recent philosophical discussions of human rights. The argument for human subsistence rights provides an instructive example of how to understand what human rights are, why we must affirm them, and how they fit together as a coherent group. I begin the article by outlining the meaning, content, and justification of human rights in general. I then identify the strongest arguments for affirming a human right to subsistence and the most powerful objections to such a right. Finally, I address the worry about human rights inflation and question any minimalist understanding of human rights that would either exclude subsistence rights altogether or limit their scope in certain ways.     

人权视野下的个人健康权与选择权

从人权的角度看,个人健康权也是一种个人选择权,因为健康本来就是属于个人的。个人健康选择权在属性上,属于一种消极性、否定性和自由性的权利。个人健康选择权主要包括健康生活方式、治疗方式、保健方式、健康状态（水平）、健康隐私以及医疗保障组织选择。农村新型合作医疗是带有合作组织的性质的一种组织,它的推行,应当充分尊重农民自愿参加的选择权,不宜按照某个计划目标推行。     

The Right to Health Care as a Right to Basic Human Functional Capabilities

A just social arrangement must guarantee a right to health care for all. This right should be understood as a positive right to basic human functional capabilities. The present article aims to delineate the right to health care as part of an account of distributive justice in health care in terms of the sufficiency of basic human functional capabilities. According to the proposed account, every individual currently living beneath the sufficiency threshold or in jeopardy of falling beneath the threshold has a legitimate claim to justice. People’s entitlements to health care should not be determined on the basis of brute luck and their efforts to maintain healthy lifestyles. The prioritization of competing claim-rights of individuals is guided by two allocation principles: number and benefit-size weighted sufficiency (among people beneath the threshold) and need-weighted utilitarianism (among people above the threshold).     

The Dangerous Human Right to Education

Studies in Philosophy and Education -     

The Right to Trial by Jury

abstract Recently, the right to trial by jury has attracted a number of vociferous critics with deep reservations about the use of juries, most of whom are in favour of greatly restricting the use of juries with a minority desiring complete abolition. This article offers a justification for the continued use of jury trials. I shall critically examine the ability of juries to render just verdicts, judicial impartiality, and judicial transparency. My contention is that the judicial system that best satisfies these values is most preferable. Of course, these three values are not the only factors relevant for consideration. Empirical evidence demonstrates that juries foster both democratic participation and public legitimation of legal decisions regarding the most serious cases. Nevertheless, juries are costly and, therefore, economically less efficient than competing modes of trial. I do not argue that all human beings possess an inalienable legal right to be tried by a jury. However, it is my hope that this analysis will make clear what we might gainor lose when we propose jury reforms.     

作者享有知识产权的合法性

“知识产权不啻趁火打劫”,[1]这种观点在某些氛围下日益萌生。随着企业集中化为多媒体集团,作品的非物质化,专为某一种大众传媒文化而进行创作,以及交流的全球化等一系列现象的出现,创作者的文学艺术产权的合法性又一次受到质疑。但就其起源而言,著作权或曰版权主要是旨在保障作者生存条件的法律所确立的保护规则。文学艺术产权的这种法律制度,能够永远确保创作者的作品一旦在公众中被复制、改编或者传播,就将获得收益。此外,著作权提供了精神权利存在的另一个空间,亦即确立了作者个人与其作品的联系。有时被视为经济发展障碍的这种精神权…     

The Human Right to Free Internet Access

In 2016, the United Nation's General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution regarding ‘The Promotion, Protection and Enjoyment of Human Rights on the Internet’. At the heart of this resolution is the UN's concern that rights that people have offline must also be protected online. While the UN thus recognises the importance of the Internet, it problematically does so selectively by focusing on protecting existing offline rights online. I argue instead that Internet access is itself a moral human right that requires that everyone has unmonitored and uncensored access to this global medium, which should be publicly provided free of charge for those unable to afford it. Rather than being a mere luxury, Internet access should be considered a universal entitlement because it is necessary for people to be able to lead minimally decent lives. Accepting this claim transforms our conception of the Internet from a technology to that of a basic right.     

The Right to Self-Defense Against the State

Philosophia - The Second Amendment is accepted as protecting a right, but it is commonly accepted that the right is not unrestricted. I will explore the most commonly suggested restrictions...