Identity politics

On the Duty To Disobey Unjust Commands

Philosopher Omri Boehm argues persuasively that universal human dignity is anathema to identitarian politics.

Ronald Bailey | 4.15.2026 11:30 AM

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(Omri Boehm)

Radical Universalism: Beyond Identity, by Omri Boehm, New York Review Books, 192 pages, $17.95

"We hold these truths to be self-evident," the Declaration of Independence famously announces: "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

"What grounds the truths in the declaration's legendary second sentence, let alone their self-evidence?" asks Omri Boehm, a philosopher at the New School for Social Research. He sets out to answer that question in Radical Universalism: Beyond Identity, a philosophically dense but intellectually rewarding book.

Boehm's inquiry into the moral foundations of universal human dignity is all the more urgent as both right and left embrace the politics of identity. The neo-reactionary right speaks of blood, soil, and heritage; the politically correct left of sex, gender, and race. They are ideological antagonists, but each seeks to slice humanity into warring minitribes. Boehm also takes to task progressive liberals whose affirmation of universal human dignity rests unsteadily on a fickle democratic consensus.

To make his case for universal human dignity, Boehm delves into the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, the meaning of the Declaration of Independence, and the biblical story of the binding of Isaac. He concludes that there is a fundamental moral freedom—and duty—to disobey unjust commands.

Libertarians certainly embrace the preeminent importance of human........

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