An Introduction to Rights / [electronic resource] William A. Edmundson. Edmundson, William A., author. Civil rights Human rights JC571 .E42 2012 323 23 Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 09 Oct 2015). An Introduction to Rights is a readable and accessible introduction to the history, logic, moral implications and political tendencies of the idea of rights. It is organized chronologically and discusses important historical events such as the French and American Revolutions. It treats a range of historical figures, including Grotius, Paley, Hobbes, Locke, Bentham, Burke, Godwin, Douglass, Mill and Hohfeld and relates the concept of rights to contemporary debates such as consequentialism versus contractualism. This thoroughly updated second edition includes a new preface and expands the discussion of the surprising role that slavery has played in the history of rights. It includes new material on egalitarianism, distributive justice and what the demand for equal rights means. 2012 Text 1 online resource (200 pages) : http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511820670 eng Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Law Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Law.