Sunter, Andrew

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Book Notes: Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights, by Alan Dershowitz

York University, Osgoode Hall Law School

Osgoode Hall Law JournalVolume 43, Number 3 (Fall 2005) Article 10Book Notes: Rights From Wrongs: A SecularTheory of the Origins of Rights, by AlanDershowitzAndrew SunterFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohljBook NoteThis Book Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Osgoode Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in OsgoodeHall Law Journal by an authorized editor of Osgoode Digital Commons.Citation InformationSunter, Andrew. "Book Notes: Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights, by Alan Dershowitz." Osgoode HallLaw Journal 43.3 (2005) : 352-352.http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol43/iss3/10OSGOODE HALL LAW JOURNALWomen; Professors Mary Jane Mossman, Sheila McIntyre, Christine Boyle,Shelley A.M. Gavigan, and Reg Graycar; and Ena Chadha, senior litigationcounsel at ARCH: A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities.RIGHTS FROM WRONGS: A SECULAR THEORYOF THE ORIGINS OFRIGHTS. BY ALAN DERSHOWITZ. NEW YORK: BASIC BOOKS,2004. Pp. ix + 261.BY ANDREW SUNTERIn stark departure from the conventional, ever-expanding body ofthought on the ontology of human rights, Alan Dershowitz forwards arights theory that is not predicated on human nature, logic, law, orreligious faith. Dershowitz contends that human rights existnotwithstanding the ontological status of God; that human nature isinherently value-neutral and, therefore, not the source of rights; that thea priori premises of logic, while cogent in a vacuum, enjoy littlepractical consensus; and that positivist legal sources cannot, inthemselves, effectively sustain rights, since they can provide noindependent means of self-evaluation.Dershowitz characterizes his approach as a bottom up dystopianaccount of human rights. Dershowitz argues that rights are founded byhuman experience-we gain human rights knowledge from the wrongs ofthe past. For example, the right to religious freedom was fostered byhistorical tragedies of religious intolerance and persecution, such as theHolocaust, the Crusades, or the Spanish Inquisition. If human nature is atall relevant to human rights, it is because the human species has an uniqueability to learn from its mistakes and avoid their repetition.Dershowitz provides a refreshing departure from the moralessentialism that seems to dominate human rights discourse. However,Dershowitz-more renowned as a celebrity defence lawyer and left-leaningpolitical commentator than as a socio-political thinker-occasionally slipsinto his own undefended version of essentialism. There are moments whenRights from Wrongs reads less like a carefully reasoned theory than apopulist polemic. Dershowitz strives to make his argument accessible to abroad audience, and while his non-technical prose is engaging, he has atendency towards deconstructing straw men rather than nuanced moralphilosophies. However, while Dershowitz's thesis is not altogetherpersuasive, his central claim is an important reminder that effective rightsprotection depends more on hard work than ideology.[VOL. 43, NO. 3

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Book Notes: Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights, by Alan Dershowitz

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