The most promising way forward in rights thinking, it seems to me, is to execute analysis on the basis of risk. Risk in turn is a function of vulnerability, and the distribution of risk, while dependent on many factors including birthright lotteries and structural limitations, is arguably the central concern of social justice. If the protection of human rights, and the punishment of their violation, are to mean anything, they must serve the ends of justice in this respect. Minimizing risk, or equalizing its distribution, are pragmatic goals of a valid rights regime. Now we must ask: is such a
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