Are There Natural Human Rights.docx
- 文档编号:7748223
- 上传时间:2023-01-26
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:5
- 大小:108.59KB
Are There Natural Human Rights.docx
《Are There Natural Human Rights.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Are There Natural Human Rights.docx(5页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
AreThereNaturalHumanRights
AreThereNaturalHumanRights?
ByMICHAELBOYLAN
TheStoneisaforumforcontemporaryphilosophersonissuesbothtimelyandtimeless.
TAGS:
CAIROPROTESTS,HUMANRIGHTS,PHILOSOPHY,PROTESTS,REVOLUTION
Thishasbeenayearofuprisings.Theseriesofpopularrevolts,strugglesandcrackdownsbygovernments,whichcontinuetothisday,beganinTunisiawhenprotestersdemandedtheremovalofpresidentZineal-AbidineBenAli.Theclaimsoftheprotesterswereabouttherighttoeat(thecostoffood),politicalcorruption,freedomofspeechandbasicpoliticalrights.ThencameEgypt,asthousandsflockedtoTahrirSquareinCairoandelsewhere.TheirdemandsweresimilartothoseinTunisia.Bothsetsofprotestersweresuccessful:
theleadersofbothcountriesfled.Thiswasthefirstwave.Itwaslargelypeaceful.
Thenthecitizensofothercountriesbecameinvolved:
Bahrain,Yemen,SyriaandLibya.Theleadersinthesecountrieswerenotcontenttorideawayintothesunset.Theyorderedtheirsoldierstofireliveammunitionintothecrowdsandimprisontheringleaders.Manywerekilled.Col.Muammarel-Qaddafisetoutabloodycounter-attacksobrutalthatitpromptedaUnitedNationsandNATOmilitaryresponse.Thesecondwavehasbeenviolent.
ThirdwavecountriessuchasJordan,OmanandKuwaitalsofeltthepressureoftheseeventsandhavemadeafewchangesinresponsetomostlypeacefuldemonstrations(reminiscentofthePragueSpringin1968).
IllustrationsbyLeifParsons
Revolutionsarebaseduponcomplaints.Thesecomplaintscanarisefrompracticalconcerns,likehavingfoodatanaffordableprice,orfrommoretheoreticalorsocialconcerns,suchasbeingabletopubliclyspeakone’smind.Botharegroundedinanunderstandingofwhatpeopleoughttobeabletoenjoyascitizensofacountry.Thisexpectationoffundamentalentitlementsiswhatwetalkaboutwhenwetalkabouthumanrights.Butwhetherornoteverypersononearthhascertainrightsjustbyvirtueofbeingapersonaliveontheplanet—aconceptIwillrefertohereasnaturalhumanrights—isaquestionofsomecontroversy.Inthesetimes,whennewquestionsofrights,complaintsandsubsequentconflictsseemtoariseaneweachweek,it’sworthknowingwherewestandonthematter.
Philosophersandlegalscholarshaveintenselydebatedthisissueoverthepastfewdecades.OneimportantstartingpointforthisdiscussionisH.L.A.Hart’scontroversial1955article,“AreThereAnyNaturalRights?
”Thearticlearguedthatnaturalrights(whatwetypicallycallhumanrights)wereaninventionoftheEuropeanEnlightenment,meresocialconstructions.Thisfollowedinthefootstepsofanotherlegalpositivistfromthe19thcentury,JohnAustin,inhisveryinfluentialwork,“LecturesonJurisprudence.”ForHartandAustinanexaminationofancientEuropeantextsdoesnotuncoveranactualwordforeither“rights”or“duties.”Theabsenceofthesewordsmeansthereisnooperationalconceptofarightoraduty(ifallconceptsrequirewordstoexpressthem).Ifthereisnooperationalconceptofrightorduty,thensuchideasdidnotexistbeforetheEuropeanEnlightenment.
Ifthisargumentiscorrect,thenhumanrightswereinventedbyLocke,Hobbes,Rousseau,KantandHume,andarenot“natural”or“true”assuch,butratheranarbitrarysocialconstructionthatappliesonlytosocietiesthatchoosetoadoptit—astheymightchoosetoadopthigh-speedInternetaccessoraparticularagriculturalirrigationstrategy.Underthisscenariotheconceptofnaturalhumanrightsisnotalegitimateuniversalcategorybywhichtojudgesocietalorindividualconduct.
Obviously,thisisaveryimportantquestion.Internationalpolicywouldceasetobeabletoadvocateuniversallyforcertainfundamentalrights—suchasthosesetoutintheUnitedNations’DeclarationofHumanRightsortheUnitedStates’BillofRightsandDeclarationofIndependenceorLiuXiaobo’s“Charter08.”Andofcourse,theideathatNATO,France,theUnitedStatesoranyothercountryshouldinterveneinLibyawouldhaveneverarisen.Instead,eachnationwouldbefreetotreatitscitizensasitchooses,subjectonlytotheruleofpower.HitlerwouldnothavebeenwrongincarryingouttheHolocaust,butonlyweakbecausehelostthewar.Thelogicalresultofsuchapositionisaradicalmoralrelativismvis-à-visvariousculturalanthropologies.
RELATED
MoreFromTheStone
Readpreviouscontributionstothisseries.
Therearetwoavenuesbywhichtoaddressthetruthofthenaturalbasisofhumanrights:
(a)whetherauthorsarguedforhumanrightsbeforetheEuropeanEnlightenment,and(b)whetherthereisalogicalbasisforhumanrightsthatwoulddemonstrateitsapplicabilitytoallpeopleregardlessofwhenitwasrecognizedtobecorrect.
Thefirsttackistoolongtoencompasshere.IhavearguedforamoralbasisofhumanrightsintheStoics;HenrikSysehasmadeasimilarattemptbycitingancientRomanwriters;andAlanGewirthhassuggestedthattheconceptcanbeextractedfromAristotle.Attheveryleast,thereisatleastavibrantphilologicalargumenthere.
Thesecondcase,itseem,ismuchmoreinteresting.Ifitistruethatthereisalogical,objective,concretebasisforhumanrightsthatisnottiedtotimeorplace,thensuchanargumentwouldbesufficienttoshowthattherearenaturalhumanrights.Nowthecandidatesforsuchapresentationcanbeputintotwocamps:
theinterest-basedapproachandtheagency-basedapproach.Intheinterest-basedapproach(championedbyJosephRazandJamesGriffin)thecriticalquestiontoaskiswhatconditionsarenecessarytoensureminimalwell-beingamongpeopleinasociety.Theforceoftheargumentisthatallpeopleeverywhereareentitledtoatleastaminimumlevelofwell-beingandthelibertiesandgoodsnecessarytogetthemthere.
Theagencyapproachisratherdifferent.Itcomesintwovarieties.Thefirstvarietyiscapabilitytheory(championedbyAmartyaSenandMarthaNussbaum).Initssimplestformthisapproachseekstopromotehumanagency—roughly,thecapacityforpeopletoact—viapublicpolicystrategiesthatpromoteindividuallibertyandopportunitytoseekafterthosegoodsthateachpersonfeelswillpromotehisorherownhumanflourishing.Agencyisthusenhancedthroughsocialinitiatives.
Thesecondvarietyseekstouncovertheoriginsofagencyitself—whataretheessentialfeaturesthatpermittheexecutionofhumanaction?
Underthisaccount(championedbymeandAlanGewirth,amongothers)particulargoodsaresetoutasnecessaryforaction.Inmyaccounttheyareputintoahierarchicalorder,analogoustoMaslow’shierarchyofneeds:
themostbasicneedsshouldbesatisfiedfirstforeveryonebeforeaddressingotherneeds(theclaimforfoodandwaterbypersonXtrumpstheclaimforanewcarbypersonY).Policydecisionsaremadebycomparingrightsclaimsmadebyvariousindividualsandgroups,andthenascertainingwhereeachfallsinthehierarchy:
primaryclaimstrumplower-rankedclaims.(Thisalsogivesastrongdefenseforprogressivetaxationpolicycontrathosewhothinkthattaxesareagovernmentallarcenyscheme.)Boththeinterestapproachandtheagencyapproachoperateundertheassumptionthattherearenaturalhumanrightsthatapplytoeverypersononearthfromthebeginningofhomosapiensexistenceontheplanet(defendedbyseparatearguments).
Thereare,ofcourse,otherjustificationsofhumanrightsthatarenotuniversalistbutratherbaseduponconventionalcriteriasuchasgeneralagreement(theSocialContractapproach).Thesedependeitheruponrealpeoplesigningtreatiesintheworldasweknowit(oftenmulti-lateralagreementsviainternationallyrecognizedinstitutionssuchastheUnitedNations)ortheyarehypotheticalcontractsituationssetinafictionalcontext(suchasJohnRawls’originalpositionorJohnLocke’sSocialContract,etal.).Thesefoundationsforhumanrightsmaybeconceptuallyappealing,buttheyaresubjecttovariationaccordingtotherealpeopleinvolvedortheparticularphilosopherorpractitionerplayingoutthescenarioaccordingtohisorhervisionofthegood.Theendresultwillnotbetheuniversalismthatisneededtofendoffmoralrelativism.
AsecondsortofobjectortonaturalhumanrightsclaimscomesfromthePeoples’RepublicofChinaandfromonepopularinterpretationofIslam.Thebasisoftheseclaimsderivesfromanhistorical(conventional)viewofthegroundingofethicsinChinaandIslam.
InthecaseofChina,thetheoristisConfucius.Inhisveryinfluentialwork,“Analects,”Confuciusestablishedtwogroundingpoints:
1.Theessentialunitofanalysisisthecommunity(akacommunitarianism)
2.Thekeyvaluestobeobservedareren(avirtueofcare)andli(avirtueofbalancepresentedthroughthemetaphorofdance).
Bothofthesepersonalandcivicvirtuesarerelational.Therelationworksthisway:
(a)thereisacommunityanditsexistenceisagivenhistoricalfactthatisnotupfordiscussion;(b)thereisanindividualandheorsheisfreetodecidejusthowheorshemightfitintothatcommunityinacaringandbalancedway(muchofthemodernanalysisofthiscomesfromtheworkbyAngleandSvensson).Individualinterpretationsofthecommunitystandardsareonlywelcomediftheyaresupportive.Ourcareandpersonalbalancearedeterminedviaanunderstandingofcommunityvalues.Eachperson’sindividuallibertyconsistsoffindingawaytofithisorherownlife’sdesireswithintheconfinesofthecommunity.Thus,theChinesegovernmentsaysagainstobjectionsoftheWest:
letusalone.Weareworkingwithintheconfinesofourowncommunity-basedstandardsthathav
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Are There Natural Human Rights
![提示](https://static.bdocx.com/images/bang_tan.gif)