Display:
Aren't human rights just another claim to incontestable absolutes? (That's what Michel Foucault argued anyway -- that the rights-based discourse of law and the state merely replaced the tradition based discourse of the church in modernity, and not necessarily providing any greater human freedom in thee process.)
by santiago on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 02:36:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The Charter of Fundamental rights codifies the rights of EU citizens.  They are not absolutes, they are not incontestable, and sometimes one right has to be balanced against another - reference my previous example of the rights of a child to access to its parents "accept when not in the child's own best interest".  The European Court of Justice has the task of adjudicating on the correct balance in specific instances as does the International Court of Justice and other Courts set up be international treaty between sovereign states.

The very fact that human rights are so controversial - e.g. in Gaza - should make it obvious that they are not universally accepted absolutes.

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot dotty communists) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 02:49:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
True, but you won't hear that disclaimer from anyone arguing for any specific right to respected, which is why it is equivalent to a religious groups' political claims for social justice in some area. A claim to specific rights for women, for example, is a claim to some presumed truth about decency and dignity, not might or mere circumstance. And that's no different than arguing that respect for women comes from God's intentions for humankind.
by santiago on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 03:20:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password
Occasional Series