Rights and Human Rights Lecture transcript GVPT 241 - 11_11_25

Question of Rights and Obligations

  • Examination of rights owed to individuals based on membership in various groups (gender, ethnic, socioeconomic).

  • Consideration of obligations to people abroad with respect to human rights.

Definition of Rights

  • A right: Mechanism or tool mediating the relationship between individual and community.

  • Specific focus on the relationship between individual and the state.

  • Distinction between rights enshrined in the Constitution (positive rights) and other types of rights (human rights).

Types of Rights

  • Positive Rights: Enshrined in law (e.g., Bill of Rights).

  • Natural Rights: Exist by virtue of human reason; imply moral equality among people.

  • Example: Relationship obligations, such as the right not to be cheated on in a monogamous relationship.

    • Even if not enforceable by law, such moral rights exist within social norms.

Human Rights

  • Discussing human rights as a formal extension of natural rights.

  • Originated from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 due to the atrocities of World War II.

    • Nearly all countries signed (excluding the USA and Saudi Arabia); non-binding document.

    • Significance: Represents a moral achievement in global acknowledgment of rights.

Historical Context of Rights

  • The concept of natural rights developed in ancient Greece:

    • Early thinkers like Aristotle noted natural orders, leading to inquiries into universal norms.

    • Evolution of rights discourse in the 1600s with theorists like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau:

    • Hobbes: Society without a state is brutal; individuals must submit rights to a sovereign for order, except the right to defend oneself.

    • Locke: A less brutal state of nature; individuals retain rights (life, liberty, property) while surrendering the power to defend these rights to the state.

    • Rousseau: Views the state of nature as peaceful; citizens should give up all rights to establish a collective will.

Critiques of Natural Rights

  • Criticism from different philosophical perspectives:

    • Edmund Burke (Conservative): Believed natural rights disrupt social order and stability.

    • Jeremy Bentham (Utilitarian): Criticized natural rights as fictional and obstructive to overall societal good, advocating for the greatest good for the greatest number.

Human Rights Framework

  • The human rights framework emerges as a reaction against excesses of national and internal sovereignty abuses (e.g., Nazi Germany).

  • Aims to place minimal conditions for well-being and protect against state overreach.

  • Articles of the UDHR include:

    • Article 3: Right to life, liberty, and security.

    • Article 4: Right against slavery.

    • Article 5: Right against torture and cruel treatment.

Current State of Human Rights Law

  • Human rights laws become binding through international covenants between countries (UN involvement), although enforcement is difficult.

  • Examples of important covenants include the European Convention on Human Rights (1950) and US Convention on Human Rights (1969).

Distinctions within Rights

  • Positive Rights: Inscribed in law (e.g., welfare rights); obligate action from others.

  • Negative Rights: Obligation for others to refrain from interference (e.g., free speech).

  • Claim Rights: Can be both positive and negative in nature, depending on obligations assigned.

  • Liberty Rights: Primarily negative, involving absence of interference.

  • Immunity Rights: Protect individuals from changes to their rights by the state.

Challenges to Human Rights

  • The universality of human rights is challenged by cultural relativism:

    • Argument that Western notions of human rights impose cultural values on other societies.

  • Human rights as a discourse for universal conditions required for living a good life,

    • Related theories include Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the capabilities approach, affirming that rights exist universally.

Conflicts Between Rights

  • Conflicts can arise between differing rights (e.g., free speech vs. fair trial rights).

  • Administrative measures are sometimes needed to balance these conflicts (e.g., limitations on rights for collective well-being).

Justification of Rights

  • Rights can be justified either consequentially (based on good outcomes) or deontologically (based on moral imperatives).

    • Consequentialism: Rights must lead to positive outcomes; but strict act utilitarianism can disregard rights.

    • Deontological: Rights are inherently good, irrespective of consequences (e.g., torture is inherently wrong).

    • Contractualism: Rights arise from agreements made in a hypothetical original position (as theorized by John Rawls).