In What Sense are Human Rights Political? A Preliminary Exploration

Bibliographic Data

ID6345695
AuthorsLaura Valentini (0000-0002-5782-5164, The Queen's College, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume60
Issue1
Pages180-194
Publication date2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9248.2011.00905.x
OpenAlexW2104455860
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited26

Philosophical discussion of human rights has long been monopolised by what might be called the ‘natural-law view’. On this view, human rights are fundamental moral rights which people enjoy solely by virtue of their humanity. In recent years, a number of theorists have started to question the validity of this outlook, advocating instead what they call a ‘political’ view. My aim in this article is to explore the latter view in order to establish whether it constitutes a valuable alternative to the ‘natural-law view’. In particular, I distinguish between three ways in which human rights can be political: in relation to their (1) iudicandum, (2) justification and (3) feasibility constraints. I argue that it makes sense to think of human rights as political in relation to both their iudicandum and their justification but in a way that is not always adequately captured by proponents of the political view. Moreover, I also claim that, if we take the political view seriously, we still need to engage in the sort of abstract moral reasoning that characterises the natural-law approach and which proponents of the political view significantly downplay

Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Human rights · Humanity · Law and economics · Natural (archaeology · Natural law · Natural order · Philosophy of law · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Public law · Relation (database · Sociology · Virtue · Free Will and Agency · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · War, Ethics, and Justification

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