The Problem of Collective Moral Rights

Abstract

Despite the neglect by political liberals in the distant and recent past to take collective rights seriously, the problem of collective rights is beginning to capture the attention of an increasing number of philosophers. This new concern for collective rights seems to be “the result of a recent interest in the value of communities.” I shall clarify and assess some of the chief categories of collective moral rights talk and proffer some criteria of adequacy for a philosophical analysis of collective moral rights. Finally, I set forth and defend an analysis of justified collective moral rights.