Utilitas 25 (4):463-486 (2013)
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Abstract |
This article addresses the so-called to human rights. Focusing specifically on the work of Onora O'Neill, the article challenges two important aspects of her version of this objection. First: its narrowness. O'Neill understands the claimability of a right to depend on the identification of its duty-bearers. But there is good reason to think that the claimability of a right depends on more than just that, which makes abstract (and not welfare) rights the most natural target of her objection (section II). After examining whether we might address this reformulated version of O'Neill's objection by appealing to the specificity afforded to human rights in international, regional and domestic law (in section III), the article challenges a second important feature of that objection by raising doubts about whether claimability is a necessary feature of rights at all (section IV). Finally, the article reflects more generally on the role of abstraction in the theory and practice of human rights (section V). In sum, by allaying claimability-based concerns about abstract rights, and by illustrating some of the positive functions of abstraction in rights discourse, the article hopes to show that abstract rights are not only theoretically coherent but also useful and important
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Keywords | Human rights onora o'neill claimability cultural diversity the nature of rights theory of rights |
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Reprint years | 2013 |
DOI | 10.1017/s0953820813000101 |
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References found in this work BETA
Humanist and Political Perspectives on Human Rights.Pablo Gilabert - 2011 - Political Theory 39 (4):439-467.
Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry.Michael Ignatieff, K. Anthony Appiah, David A. Hollinger, Thomas W. Laqueur, Diane F. Orentlicher & A. Gutmann - 2001 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 65 (1):177-178.
Human Rights Without Foundations.Joseph Raz - 2010 - In Samantha Besson & John Tasioulas (eds.), The Philosophy of International Law. Oxford University Press.
The Feasibility of Basic Socioeconomic Human Rights: A Conceptual Exploration.Pablo Gilabert - 2009 - Philosophical Quarterly 59 (237):659-681.
Constructions of Reason: Explorations of Kant's Practical Philosophy.Daniel M. Farrell - 1991 - Philosophical Quarterly 41 (164):372-374.
View all 9 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Standard Threats: How to Violate Basic Human Rights.Anthony R. Reeves - 2015 - Social Theory and Practice 41 (3):403-434.
Defending Human Dignity and Human Rights.Pablo Gilabert - 2020 - Journal of Global Ethics 16 (3):326-342.
The Claimability Condition: Rights as Action‐Guiding Standards.Cristián Rettig - 2020 - Journal of Social Philosophy 51 (2):322-340.
The Universal Scope of Positive Duties Correlative to Human Rights.Marinella Capriati - 2018 - Utilitas 30 (3):355-378.
View all 6 citations / Add more citations
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