Are There Natural Human Rights.docx

Are There Natural Human Rights.docx

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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.

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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