Taking Equal Rights Seriously

This dissertation is a panoramic research on Dworkin's liberal theory of law. It consists of eight chapters, in addition to the introduction and conclusion.Chapter 1 is the introduction of the whole dissertation, which concludes the confirmation of the subject, the status of the research, the framework of the structure and the approach of the discussion.Through the research on Dworkin's theory of law,this dissertation concludes :1)Dworkin's theory of law is the liberal theory of law;2) the core of the liberal theory of law is taking equal rights seriously.This dissertation discusses the purpose,the core,the construction and the critique and reflection of the Dworkin's liberal theory of law.Chapter 2 discusses the purpose of Dworkin's liberal theory of law. The purpose of Dworkin's liberal theory of law is closely relate to the background that the liberalism is in crisis. In order to defending the tradition of liberalism,Dworkin constructs his liberal theory of law.Chapter 3 discusses the core of Dworkin's liberal theory of law. This chapter is composed of three questions:Why should we take rights seriously? Whether we should take rights seriously? Which rights should we take seriously?This dissertation draws three concludes: 1)we must take rights seriously in order to taking liberal conception of equality seriously;2)the moral basis of individual rights is the dignity of human nature; 3)the fundamental rights is equal rights.Chapter 4,5,6 discusses the construction of Dworkin's liberal theory of law. Dworkin's liberal theory of law is composed of the theory of legal principles,the interpretive turn and the theory of legal interpretation. Their construction all revolves around taking equal rights seriously. According to the theory of legal principles, the law includes not only legal rules but also legal principles, and rights are created in the process of legal principles reflecting moral principles.the rights is anti-utilitarian, and they are political trumps held by individuals. Theories of adjudication are the rights thesis that judicial decision enfore existing political rights. The interpretive turn grounds the interpretive process of law upon literary theory.It represents a modified,more elaborate,expression of the rights thesis. According to the theory of legal interpretation,to put forward law as integrity,to discuss the concept of Community and to amend Gadamer's hermeneutics are to take equal rights seriously.Chapter 7 is the criticism and reflection of Dworkin's liberal theory of law. They are the criticism of liberalism, communitarianism and conservatism. The criticism of liberalism is Hart and Posner's criticism,which belong to the criticism of methodology within the liberalism. According to Hart's theory, Dworkin's liberal theory of law is merely a noble dream.It is pointless to claim the only correct answer on the basis of the dream. According to Posner's theory,Dworkin's moral theory is a campus moral theory.The campus moral theory is useless.The criticism of communitarianism is Sandel and MacIntyre's criticism,which are the criticism on the basis of criticizing liberalism. According to Sandel's theory, deontological liberalism is defective. The idea that rights is political trump held by individual should be questioned. According to MacIntyre 's theory,not only the primacy of rights is questioned, but also the concept of rights is a fiction.The criticism of the Conservatism is Caicos and Strauss's criticism,which are the fundamental criticism against the entire liberalism. According to Caicos's theory,the liberal theory is inconsistent.Dworkin's liberal theory is inconsistent between the liberal negative Target and the liberal positive Target,and is inconsistent between the equal value and the good life. According to Strauss's theory, the priority of right over the good is problematic, and it is ultimately a question of modern political philosophy. To solve the problem is to return to classical political philosophy and to adhere to the priority of good over the right.Chapter 8 is the conclusion of this dissertation.This dissertation argues that Dworkin's liberal theory of law is hedgehog-style. In upholding the big ideas of taking equal rights seriously, Dworkin makes full use of various theories resources to argue his ideas and to respond to various criticism. If we take Dworkin's liberal theory of law seriously, we must take every argument of Dworkin's liberal theory of law seriously.