Logical priority of individual rights - Nozick's political philosophy

Author: Wen Changchun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: "Logic First" differs from "Time First." The former refers to being logically prior to conclusions, while the latter means the cause precedes the effect in time. Nozick regards human rights as the cornerstone of his theory, with individual rights occupying a natural logical premise in his theoretical framework. He interprets rights through entitlement, replaces distribution with holding, explains justice through appropriateness, and constructs political harmony with a meta-utopia. The debate between Nozick and Rawls reflects different orientations of rights in the dimensions of freedom and equality. The distinction between Nozick and Dworkin indicates that the substance of rights has different boundaries. Sandel questions whether Nozick's conception of rights is detached from the common good of the community, while MacKinnon criticizes that Nozick's conception of rights is unrelated to morality. Faced with rootless rationality of rights, can Nozick in practice still be a Nozickian?