This book analyses debates concerning the nature, justification and legal protection of human rights with reference to the issues surrounding social milieu as a source of any legitimized law. With contributions from a global network of scientists across several continents, the work examines the understanding of the normative framework, expressed in terms of human rights that guarantee autonomous action in public and private and goes beyond the legal analysis to discuss communication strategies in human rights.

Introduction; Chapter 1 'Collective' Human Rights for the Protection of Minorities? 1 A revised version of the lecture at the conference 'Grundrechte und Menschenrechte - Derechos Humanos y Garantias Constitucionales' 50 years of FU Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, 3-5 June, 1998. First published in German: Georg Lohmann, '"Kollektive" Menschenrechte zum Schutz ethnischer Minderheiten?', in Thomas Rentsch (ed.), Anthropologie, Ethik, Politik. Grundfragen der praktischen Philosophie der Gegenwart (Thelem, Dresden, 2004), pp. 92-108 (likewise Dresdener Hefte für Philosophie, Heft 6)., Georg Lohmann; Chapter 2 Value Pluralism and Legal Philosophy: The Impact of Isaiah Berlin and John Gray 1 I wish to thank Mr Maciej Pleszka, LLM for his having kindly made the research into the ECHR judicature for the sake of the present Chapter., Beata Polanowska-Sygulska; Chapter 3 On the Human Right to Science and Culture 1 I would like to express my gratitude to my husband Henrik Andersen, without whose support I would not have been able to write this Chapter. I would also like to express my gratitute to Dr. Nina-Louisa Lorenz Arold for encouraging me in my research and her helpful comments which I have included in the text. I am also extremely grateful to Professor Bartosz Wojciechowski from Lodz University and Dr. Stefan Larsson from Lund University Internet Institute who have been a great source of inspiration during the development of this work., Anna Maria Andersen Nawrot; Chapter 4 On the Possibility of Justifying the Idea of Human Rights 1 The following text was prepared as Part of a research grant financed by The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education No. NN 110 237839., Tomasz Bekrycht; Chapter 5 Human Rights as an Element of Mutual Recognition and Equality of Opportunity 1 This Chapter was originally written as a Part of the research project No. NN 110 237839 financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education., Bartosz Wojciechowski; Chapter 6 'To Tolerate Means to Insult' (J.W. v. Goethe): Towards a Social Practice of Recognition, Barbara Weber; Chapter 7 On Paul Ricoeur's Tribute to Legal Philosophical Issues of Recognition and Reciprocity, Marcin Pieni??ek; Chapter 8 Should There Be an Obligation to Recognize an Individual's Ascription to a Group? On the Margins of the 'Right to Exit' Debate, Micha? Dudek; Chapter 9 Domestic Violence, Oppression and Participatory Parity: An Analysis of Brazilian Law in Light of a Theory of Democratic Justice 1 I would like to thank Ana Lucia Nina Bernardes, Adriana Vidal and Joanna Noronha for their comments on earlier versions of this Chapter. I also would like to thank the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa for the funding that allowed me to write this Chapter., Marcia Nina Bernardes; Chapter 10 No Court is an Island: Philosophy at the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, Nina-Louisa Lorenz Arold; Chapter 11 The Constitutionality of Law vis-à-vis Minority Rights, Milena Korycka-Zirk; Chapter 12 The Problem of Slavery - the Judge Between Moral Conviction and Fidelity to Law, Jerzy Zajad?o; Chapter 13 The Principle of Self-determination and Rights of National Minorities. A Legal and Philosophical Analysis of the Problem Using an Example from the Czech Republic, Tatiana Machalová; Chapter 14 Les Misérables of Thessaloniki in 2011: A Practical Case Study of Human Rights and Human Abuse, Victor Tsilonis; Chapter 15 Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Post-Communist Central-Eastern Europe, Adam Czarnota; Chapter 16 Is Law's Practical-Cultural Project Condemned to Fail the Test of 'Contextual Congruence '? A Dialogue with Hans Albert's Social Engineering To say it with Joseph Dunne, Back to the Rough Ground. Practical Judgment and the Lure of Technique (University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1997, reprinted in 2001), p. 174., José Manuel Aroso Linhares; Chapter 17 On the Constructivist Premise of Constitutional Patriotism as a Normative Idea 1 The following text was prepared as a Part of a research grant financed by The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education No. NN 110 237839., Karolina M. Cern; Chapter 18 Flexible Normative Space Between the European Law and the Member State Law as a Source of Constitutional Identity 1 This Chapter was written as a Part of the research project No. NN 110 237839 financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education., Marek Zirk-Sadowski; Chapter 19 The Complexity of Contemporary Legal Systems - Dilemmas and the Paradoxes of Law's Legitimacy, TadeuszBiernat;

Marek Zirk-Sadowski is Professor of the Theory and Philosophy of Law at the University of ?ód?, Poland. His scholarship focuses on the theory of judicial application and the interpretation of law, the theory of legal values, and the philosophy of European law. He has published more than 120 works in these fields. Since 1994, he has been a judge and since 2004 he has been vice-president of the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland.,
Bartosz Wojciechowski is Associate Professor in the Department of Legal Theory and the Philosophy of Law, at the Law and Administration Faculty, University of ?ód?, Poland. He has published more than 60 articles in Polish, German, English and Czech. Since 2002, he has been a judge, and since 2012 has been a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland.,
Karolina M. Cern is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chair of Ethics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Pozna?, Poland, Secretary of the Commission of Philosophy at the PoznaÅ" Society of Friends of Arts and Sciences; Visiting Research Associate in the Institute of Education, University of London (VII 2012- VI 2013). She is an author of three monographs and has contributed to a number of journal articles and eight edited collections.