Cranston's Argument

Inside title page

Table of contents

Human rights in the Soviet Union

Blacks in South Africa and Jews in Nazi Germany

Is the worker’s “right” to a paid vacation in the same category as the citizen’s “right” to vote?

Is the “right” to full employment of the same order as the “right” to worship the God of one’s choice?

Maurice Cranston says no. He argues that there is a distinction between moral/negative rights, which are inherent to man, and legal/positive rights, which are derived from the state. Negative rights both precede and outweigh positive rights and are the fundamental conduit through which the state derives its legitimacy and the individual derives his agency. This school of thought advocates for a restrained but universal approach to human rights.