Date: 2005
Type: Thesis
Constitutional dilemmas : conflicts of fundamental legal rights in Europe and in the USA
Florence : European University Institute, 2005, EUI, LAW, PhD Thesis
ZUCCA, Lorenzo, Constitutional dilemmas : conflicts of fundamental legal rights in Europe and in the USA, Florence : European University Institute, 2005, EUI, LAW, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/4829
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This dissertation deals with one of the most important issues of philosophy of law and constitutional thought: that of conflicts of fundamental rights Comparative analysis, with perspectives from European and American legal systems Analyses actual cases of conflict, such as privacy versus free speech, and the Terri Schiavo physician assisted suicide case This book deals with one of the most important issues of philosophy of law and constitutional thought: how to understand clashes of fundamental rights, such as the conflict between free speech and privacy. The main argument of this book is that much can be learned about the nature of fundamental legal rights by examining them through the lens of conflicts among such rights, and criticizing the views of scholars and jurists who have discussed both fundamental legal rights and the nature of conflicts among them. Theories of rights are necessarily abstract, aiming at providing the best possible answers to pressing social problems. Yet such theories must also respond to the real and changing dilemmas of the day. Taking up the problem of conflicting rights, Zucca seeks a theory of rights that can guide us to a richer, more responsive approach to rights discourse. The idea of constitutional rights is one of the most powerful tools to advance justice in the Western tradition. But as this thesis demonstrates, even the most ambitious theory of rights cannot satisfactorily address questions of conflicting rights. How, for instance, can we fully secure privacy when it clashes with free speech? To what extent can our societies assist people in dying without compromising the protection of life? Exploring the limitations of the rights discourse in these areas, Zucca questions the role of law in settling ethical dilemmas helping to clarify thinking about the limitations of rights discourse.
Additional information:
Defence date: 23 May 2005; Examining Board: Prof. Wojciech Sadurski, supervisor ; Prof. Otto Petersmann (Paris I), co-supervisor ; Neil Walker, reader ; Stephen Perry (NYU), reader; First made available online 28 November 2016
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/4829
Full-text via DOI: 10.2870/928674
Series/Number: EUI; LAW; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Civil rights -- Philosophy; Conflict of laws -- Europe; Conflict of laws -- United States
Published version: http://hdl.handle.net/1814/7548