Human Rights Without Foundations

21 Pages Posted: 11 Jul 2007

See all articles by Joseph Raz

Joseph Raz

University of Oxford - Faculty of Law; Columbia University - Law School; King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law

Date Written: March 2007

Abstract

Using the accounts of Gewirth and Griffin as examples, the article criticises accounts of human rights as those are understood in human rights practices, which regard them as rights all human beings have in virtue of their humanity. Instead it suggests that (with Rawls) human rights set the limits to the sovereignty of the state, but criticises Rawls conflation of sovereignty with legitimate authority. The resulting conception takes human rights, like other rights, to be contingent on social conditions, and in particular on the nature of the international system.

Keywords: Jurisprudence, Human Rights

Suggested Citation

Raz, Joseph, Human Rights Without Foundations (March 2007). Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14/2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=999874 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.999874

Joseph Raz (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Faculty of Law ( email )

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United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://josephnraz.googlepages.com/home

Columbia University - Law School ( email )

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United States

HOME PAGE: http://josephnraz.googlepages.com/home

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law ( email )

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Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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