Question

Explain the silent features of human rights?

Answer 1

Human rights are moral claims, and therefore they are grounded in morality, not just law. They have a very high priority compared to other moral or non-moral claims, such as claims based on honor, disgust, utility etc.They require mandatory (as opposed to discretionary) compliance and are therefore more than mere aspirations – they are necessary for the protection and realization of certain fundamental, basic and universal human values and interests.They are instrumental principles in the sense that we don’t want them for their own sake; they are means for the creation of better life quality and not just goals in themselves.they are universal: all human beings have certain rights, for no other reason than their humanity and the values attached to humanity; this means that human rights precede and trump considerations of national sovereignty and that national sovereignty therefore does not provide a means to escape human rights obligations.They are pre-political: they are a moral order that has a legitimacy and existence preceding contingent social, legal, political, cultural and historical conditions and that can be used to assess and question those conditionsThey are independent from legal/social/cultural/religious recognition: human beings have human rights even if the laws and customs of their country/group do not recognize or perhaps even violate these rights – although people’s rights are obviously much more secure when they are translated into law and culture.They are unconditional: people have rights without conditions; respect for rights is not conditional upon fulfillment of duties, status, legal recognition of rights or persons etc. They are inalienable: since rights are owned by human beings because of their humanity, these rights aren’t given and hence can’t be taken away; people still have rights when those rights are violatedThey are not forfeitable: people can’t give their rights away for the same reason that these rights can’t be taken away; however, people can decide that they don’t want their rights enforced.They are equal rights: rights are equal in two meanings of the word; they are equal between people (because all people are equally human) and they are equal to other human rights (there are no “basic” and “less urgent/important” human rights)They are interdependent: different rights need each other, violations of one right most likely lead to violations of other rights (which is one reason why there can’t be a core of “basic” rights).They are limited: rights have to be balanced against each other because respect for one right can imply a violation of another right; balancing means imposing limitations on some rights for the benefit of other rights (or of the rights of others); the fact that there are no basic rights makes this balancing more difficult but not impossible. Conflicting rights then have to be balanced by taking into account the nature of the underlying values, or the way in which the two conflicting rights realize the values they are supposed to uphold. They are not politically neutral: not all forms of government can equally respect human rights; there’s a close link between human rights and democracy.They are multidimensional: human rights are not just a matter between citizens and the state; they are addressed at everyone and impose duties on everyone. Corporations and other organizations also have to be mindful of their operations’  human rights implications. This means that human rights also function in a trans-national and trans-generational dimension.They are simultaneously negative (free from x) and positive (free to do x): they always and everywhere require both self-restraint and tolerance as well as active intervention,  according to the circumstances.