Chapter 18 Human rights
Introduction
A human right is an entitlement to treatment that a person enjoys simply by
virtue of being a human being. Human rights are universal, meaning that
possession of such rights is not contingent on belonging to a particular state
or culture. Although the concept can be traced back to the eighteenth-century
Enlightenment – the ‘rights of man’ – it is only in the twentieth century that a
human right became a major concept in political discourse. The widespread
ratification by states of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was
created in 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War, has
changed world politics; although individuals are frequently denied their human
rights, even by states purporting to respect them, the fact of the existence of
human rights has shifted international politics from being based simply on
nation-states’ interest to one based on the recognition that individuals have
claims against their own state. But human rights are open to the criticism that
they are the product of a particular time and place – post-eighteenth-century
Europe, or the West – and their ‘imposition’ is a form of imperialism. They can
also be criticised for elevating individualism above collectivism, and ‘negative’
rights (to be left alone) above ‘positive’ rights (to a particular level of resources).Chapter map
In this chapter we will:- Consider the modern discourse of
human rights by reference to the
Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. - Study human rights documents, and
their philosophical implications. - Outline the universalism versus
relativism debate.- Assess five attempts to defend a set of
universal human rights. - Consider whether the right to religious
freedom is ‘imperialist’.
- Assess five attempts to defend a set of