Autonomy and Rights: The Moral Foundations of Liberalism - Softcover

Review from previous edition dense, rich, and philosophically innovative ... Spector's argument is complex and nuanced (Eric Mack, Mind)

Professor Spector's aim is to justify classical liberalism; he goes about it in a way that turns upside-down many of our preconceptions. . . . If your idea of good philosophy is lots of nice, careful arguments meshing together to support an interesting position, then you will be able to appreciate this excellent book. (Ethics)

Moral and political theorists who espouse egalitarianism and Marxism tend to assume that it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to put forward an original and plausible moral justification of classical liberalism. Horacio Spector is concerned to build just such a justification. He reconstructs and then criticizes a familiar approach to the moral foundations of classical liberalism which rests on the maximization of negative freedom, and then frames an alternative theory centered in the obligation to protect positive freedom. In so doing, he parts company not only with utilitarianism and contractarianism, but also with the theory of natural rights. Among the topics he discusses are the concepts of negative and positive freedom, the notion of a moral right, the connection between positive freedom and personal autonomy, the axiological uniqueness of each human being, and the agent-relativity of moral reasons.