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What is a human? : what the answers mean for human rights / John H. Evans.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, c2016Description: ix, 260 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780190608071 (hardback)
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • GN492.2 E83 2016
Contents:
Machine generated contents note: -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Chapter 2 Anthropologies and Human Rights in the Academic Debate -- Chapter 3 The General Public, Academic Anthropologies, and Human Rights -- Chapter 4 The Public's Biological Anthropologies: DNA and Analogies to Existing Humans -- Chapter 5 The Public's Philosophical Anthropologies: Autonomous and Social Traits -- Chapter 6 The Public's Theological Anthropologies: The Image of God and the Soul -- Chapter 7 The Public's Socially Conferred Anthropology: Humans Making Humans Human -- Chapter 8 Conclusion: Re-assessing the Academic Debate about Anthropologies -- Appendix A Formal Statistical Analyses of the Survey Data -- Appendix B Public Opinion Survey -- Appendix C In-depth Interviews -- Works Cited -- Index.
Summary: "The debate over what makes human beings unique has raged for hundreds of years, and many believe it is urgent to convince others to accept their particular definition of what it is to be human. Despite these dire warnings, nobody has empirically examined whether particular definitions of a human actually lead to maltreatment. In this book sociologist John H. Evans does and concludes that the definitions of a human promoted by biologists and philosophers actually are associated with less support for human rights. Members of the public who agree with these definitions say they are less willing to sacrifice to stop genocides, and are more supportive of buying organs from poor people, experimenting on prisoners against their will, torturing people to potentially save lives, and having terminally ill people commit suicide to save money. It might appear that the assumptions of critics are empirically correct. However, Evans finds that these critics are actually only partially right, and a detailed examination of the public's views reveals a much more subtle and complex situation. First, he shows that only a minority of the general public agrees with the definitions associated with less support for human rights. Then, he shows that the public has its own definitions of a human being that are unlikely to lead to human rights abuses. So while the critics are right about the definitions of a human promoted by academic biologists and philosophers, at present their concern about widespread maltreatment is overblown"--
List(s) this item appears in: Newly Acquired Library Materials 2019 - For Regional Offices
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Notes Date due Barcode
Books Books CHR CARAGA Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk CRG-000026
Books Books CHR Cordillera Administrative Region Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available CAR-000026
Books Books CHR National Capital Region Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available NCR-000026
Books Books CHR Region I Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R01-000026
Books Books CHR Region II Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R02-000026
Books Books CHR Region III Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R03-000026
Books Books CHR Region IVA Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R4A-000026
Books Books CHR Region IVB Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R4B-000026
Books Books CHR Region IX Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R09-000026
Books Books CHR Region V Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R05-000026
Books Books CHR Region VI Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R06-000026
Books Books CHR Region VII Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R07-000026
Books Books CHR Region VIII Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R08-000026
Books Books CHR Region X Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R10-000026
Books Books CHR Region XI Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R11-000026
Books Books CHR Region XII Regional Office - Human Rights Newly Processed GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available hbk R12-000026
Books Books Commission on Human Rights Library Human Rights Corrected GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available CHRPL003876
Books Books Commission on Human Rights Library Human Rights Corrected GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available CHRPL003877
Books Books Commission on Human Rights Library Human Rights Corrected GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available CHRPL003878
Books Books Commission on Human Rights Library Human Rights Corrected GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available CHRPL003879
Books Books Commission on Human Rights Library Human Rights Corrected GN492.2 E83 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available CHRPL003880

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-249) and index.

Machine generated contents note: -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Chapter 2 Anthropologies and Human Rights in the Academic Debate -- Chapter 3 The General Public, Academic Anthropologies, and Human Rights -- Chapter 4 The Public's Biological Anthropologies: DNA and Analogies to Existing Humans -- Chapter 5 The Public's Philosophical Anthropologies: Autonomous and Social Traits -- Chapter 6 The Public's Theological Anthropologies: The Image of God and the Soul -- Chapter 7 The Public's Socially Conferred Anthropology: Humans Making Humans Human -- Chapter 8 Conclusion: Re-assessing the Academic Debate about Anthropologies -- Appendix A Formal Statistical Analyses of the Survey Data -- Appendix B Public Opinion Survey -- Appendix C In-depth Interviews -- Works Cited -- Index.

"The debate over what makes human beings unique has raged for hundreds of years, and many believe it is urgent to convince others to accept their particular definition of what it is to be human. Despite these dire warnings, nobody has empirically examined whether particular definitions of a human actually lead to maltreatment. In this book sociologist John H. Evans does and concludes that the definitions of a human promoted by biologists and philosophers actually are associated with less support for human rights. Members of the public who agree with these definitions say they are less willing to sacrifice to stop genocides, and are more supportive of buying organs from poor people, experimenting on prisoners against their will, torturing people to potentially save lives, and having terminally ill people commit suicide to save money. It might appear that the assumptions of critics are empirically correct. However, Evans finds that these critics are actually only partially right, and a detailed examination of the public's views reveals a much more subtle and complex situation. First, he shows that only a minority of the general public agrees with the definitions associated with less support for human rights. Then, he shows that the public has its own definitions of a human being that are unlikely to lead to human rights abuses. So while the critics are right about the definitions of a human promoted by academic biologists and philosophers, at present their concern about widespread maltreatment is overblown"--

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