The Proliferation of Rights: Moral Progress or Empty Rhetoric?

The Proliferation of Rights explores how the assertion of rights has expanded dramatically since World War II. Carl Wellman illuminates for the reader the historical developments in each of the major categories of rights, including human rights, civil rights, women's rights, patient rights, and animal rights. He concludes by assessing where this proliferation has been legitimate and helpful, cases where it has been illusory and unproductive, and alternatives to the appeal to rights.

Carl Wellman is Hortense and Tobias Lewin Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis.