HUMR5150 ¨C The Philosophy of Human Rights

Course content

While the concept of human rights today plays an important role both in law and in politics (domestic and international), it is also a concept which is firmly grounded in philosophical discussions of rights, in at least two ways. On the one hand, there is a long philosophical tradition discussing rights in general, and natural rights in particular, and which is arguably a precursor of the contemporary concept of human rights. On the other hand, the philosophy of human rights has in the last decade seen a turn away from the natural rights tradition and towards examining and providing a philosophical justification for the contemporary practice of human rights, in particular as this practice takes place in international law and politics.

Indeed, one of the main topics of discussion within the contemporary philosophy of human rights is whether human rights are best understood according to the so-called "orthodox" or "naturalistic" approach, where human rights are seen as belonging inherently to the natural rights tradition in philosophy, or according to the so-called "political" or "practical approach", according to which the philosophy of human rights must take as its point of departure the role human rights actually play in contemporary politics, with the result that human rights might turn out to be quite different from natural rights. The course will cover both approaches to human rights, examining the merits of each approach, and discussing what is at stake in the debate between orthodox and political approaches to the philosophy of human rights.

In addition to discussing the question of how the concept of human rights should be understood, the course will also discuss other core questions in the philosophy of human rights, such as how human rights claims can be justified, the role human rights play in normative theory, how to deal with conflicts of rights, the relationship between moral human rights and legal human rights, and the relation between human rights and relativism. The course will also examine how the debate over different concepts of human rights is relevant for the discussion of these further questions. Finally, the course will address the legitimacy of the international human rights system and consider moral criticisms of this system.

Learning outcome

The course will provide the students with an understanding of some of the main philosophical debates about human rights, concerning how the concept of human rights should be understood, how human rights can be justified and the moral relevance of human rights. After having taken the course the student will be able to critically participate in these debates and will have the foundation for understanding new questions arising within the philosophy of human rights.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which c