Human Dignity and Social Justice($122.87Value)

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Human dignity: social movements invoke it, several national constitutions enshrine it, and it features prominently in international human rights documents. But what is it, why is it important, and what is its relationship to human rights and social justice? Pablo Gilabert offers a systematic defense of the view that human dignity is the moral heart of justice. In Human Dignity and Human Rights (OUP 2019), he advanced an account of human dignity for the context of human rights discourse, which covers the most urgent, basic claims of dignity. This book extends the dignitarian approach to more ambitious claims of maximal dignity of the kind encoded in democratic socialist conceptions of social justice. In particular, this book focuses on the just organization of working practices. It recasts in a dignitarian format the critique of capitalist society as involving exploitation, alienation, and domination of workers, and revamps a neglected but inspiring socialist principle. In its dignitarian interpretation, the Abilities/Needs Principle ( "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs!" ) yields reasonable and feasible requirements on social cooperation so that it solidaristically empowers each human being to lead a flourishing life. While Human Dignity and Human Rights offered the first systematic account of human dignity in human rights discourse, Human Dignity and Social Justice presents the first systematic application of the dignitarian framework to the core ideals of democratic socialism. "This is, in my view, the best book on socialism published in a long time - a work that deserves to be read for its originality, breadth and high argumentative quality." -- Pierre-Étienne Vandamme, La Vie des Idéee "In Human Dignity and Social Justice , Gilabert successfully integrates individual, plural, and universal dimensions of dignity in a constructive way. He deserves credit for his conceptual network theorizing dignity and applying it to labor rights, his reinterpretation of the ANP [the Abilities/Needs Principle], and his willingness to address complex questions about capitalism. This book is a necessary reading for all those interested in human rights, human dignity, and in the promotion of social justice." -- Amos Nascimento, Perspectives on Politics "In his latest book, Gilabert's main original contribution is to argue that dignity provides a unique normative imperative to avoid exploitation ..., alienation ..., and domination. ...Gilabert convincingly argues that moral norms concerning social justice relate to the capacities that give rise to our dignity in the first place (sentience, self-awareness, reasoning, etc.)" -- Matthew Perry, European Journal of Political Theory "Pablo Gilabert's Human Dignity and Social Justice ... is a deep and wideranging engagement with the dignitarian approach to social justice, likely to shape that discussion for years to come. HDSJ mobilizes an impressive array of distinctions, arguments, and ideas in defence of a humane, democratic, and egalitarian form of socialism that, Gilabert thinks, is necessary for fully realizing the demands of human dignity." -- Nicholas Vrousalis, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy "A "masterful defense of an expanded notion of dignity, one that can undergird social transformation and contribute to a new humanism"." -- Carol Gould, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy "Pablo Gilabert's Human Dignity and Social Justice offers a theory of justice that is rooted in a nuanced account of the concept of dignity... The book is a notable achievement in terms of breadth and depth. I find Gilabert's central argument that the concept of dignity should anchor a theory of justice persuasive. ...The extension of the dignitarian framework to a critique of labor is a breath of fresh air. The proposal strikes me as a necessary synthesis of so-called 'liberal' and Marxist approaches to justice." -- Elvira Basevich, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy "Gilabert "urges us to revive a neglected socialist principle as we try to envision a more dignified future after capitalism: the principle 'From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs!' Gilabert's approach to socialism is rightly premised on the need for systematic normative theory. And it rightly brings attention to long-standing liberal neglect of contribution." -- Lucas Stanczyk, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy Pablo Gilabert Pablo Gilabert is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada). He is a native of Argentina, and has held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford, the University of Frankfurt, the Australian National University, Princeton University, UC Berkeley, and the University of Montreal. His papers appeared in The Journal of Political Philosophy, Politica