Philosopher Kings? The Adjudication of Conflicting Human Rights and Social Values, by George C. Christie, examines the attempts by courts to sort out conflicts involving freedom of expression, including religious expression, on the one hand, and rights to privacy and other important social values on the other. It approaches the subject from a comparative perspective, using principally cases decided by European and United States courts.A significant part of this book analyzes conflicts between freedom of expression and the right to privacy. In a world in which, freedom of expression and privacy are said to be of equal value, the book explores whether it is possible to develop, through case-by-case adjudication, a legal regime which can give clear direction as to what expression is or is not permitted. Otherwise, if such a regime proves impossible, in the guise of recognizing the equal value of expression and privacy, privacy may become de facto the preferred value.

PrefacePart One-ProlegomenaChapter I-IntroductionChapter II- "Rights" DiscourseChapter III-Structural Impediments to Consistent Application of "Universal" Human RightsPart Two-The Difficult IssuesChapter IV-The Enlarged View of Rights in Contemporary Constitutions and Human Rights Conventions-The Notion of Defeasible RightsChapter V-Litigation Involving a Conflict of Rights, Each of Equal ValuePart Three-The Limited Help from Philosophy and the Social SciencesChapter VI-The Epistemology of Judicial Decision MakingChapter VII- The Unsuccessful Attempt to Find a Philosophical "North Star" to Aid in Judicial Decision MakingChapter VIII-The Use of Balancing Tests and Factor Analysis-The InevitableTendency to Resort to Bright-Line TestsPart Four-Case-by-Case AdjudicationChapter IX-An Overview of Case-by-Case Adjudication, Its Possible Goals, and the Influence of Legal TraditionsChapter X-The Optimal Conditions for Case-by-Case Adjudication and Its LimitsChapter XI-Case-by-Case Adjudication of Contentious Human Rights ControversiesPart Five-ConclusionChapter XII-What If We Must Choose?Table of CasesIndex