Publication Details

Abstract

Human rights are currently the subject of several complex questions that are political, social, or legal in its nature. In order to address these problems meaningfully, we must also take into account a more general philosophical context and we should have a clearer idea of what human rights are and on what foundations they are based. In the study, we discuss whether we currently have a fully philosophically based conception of the foundation and legitimization of human rights. We present various current approaches that are candidates for solving this problem and we offer their critical evaluation. The starting point for us is the idea of human rights as obvious truths and approaches derived from it based on rational or emotional evidence. We also deal with the possibility of establishment of human rights utilizing concept of natural law, utilitarian approaches, and conceptions based on the idea of dignity. Some other related theories and historical contexts of the analysed conceptions are also briefly mentioned. We wrap up the text with conclusion that a completely satisfactory philosophical theory of human rights is still not available, and we also put forward our recommendations for solving the presented problems of the investigated theories.