The Most Human Right

Why Free Speech Is Everything

Eric Heinze

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English

MIT Press
24 October 2023

Political science & theory

A bold, groundbreaking argument by a world-renowned expert that unless we treat free speech as the fundamental human right, there can be no others.

A bold, groundbreaking argument by a world-renowned expert that unless we treat free speech as the fundamental human right, there can be no others.

What are human rights? Are they laid out definitively in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the US Bill of Rights? Are they items on a checklist-dignity, justice, progress, standard of living, health care, housing? In The Most Human Right, Eric Heinze explains why global human rights systems have failed. International organizations constantly report on how governments manage human goods, such as fair trials, humane conditions of detention, healthcare, or housing. But to appease autocratic regimes, experts have ignored the primacy of free speech. Heinze argues that goods become rights only when citizens can claim them publicly and fearlessly- free speech is the fundamental right, without which the very concept of a ""right"" makes no sense.

Heinze argues that throughout history countless systems of justice have promised human goods. What, then, makes human rights different? What must human rights have that other systems have lacked? Heinze revisits the origins of the concept, exploring what it means for a nation to protect human rights, and what a citizen needs in order to pursue them. He explains how free speech distinguishes human rights from other ideas about justice, past and present.

By: Eric Heinze
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9780262547246
ISBN 10: 0262547244
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 24 October 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

"1 Introductions 1 2 What is the ""Human"" of Human Rights? 11 3 The Invention of the Individual 25 4 Going Global 51 5 The Most Human Right 73 6 Do All Opinions Count? 101 7 Conclusion 125 Acknowledgments 131 Appendix: Universal Declaration of Human Rights 133 Notes 139 Works Cited 159 Index 179"

Eric Heinze is Professor of Law and Humanities in the University of London and an internationally recognized authority on free speech and human rights. He is the author of Hate Speech and Democratic Citizenship, The Concept of Injustice,and other books. He is a frequent guest speaker on radio, on television, and online, and his opinion pieces have appeared in the Guardian, the Washington Post, and many other publications.