Search

This paper analyzes the protection of victims of forced migration from the perspective of the philosophy of law and international human rights law. On the one hand, it focuses on the origin and philosophical-legal foundations of human dignity and its practical requirements as a legal principle. Understood in this sense, dignity is considered as the foundation of the most basic human rights; and implies universally enforceable legal prerogatives in favor of all persons, by the mere fact of their human nature; and without considering exogenous factors, such as origin or nationality. Within this context, fundamental notions such as ius communcationis, or the right of sociability of human beings and hospitality, which entail a common use of the universal land within the comunitas orbis or universal community, are recovered. It is concluded that, despite the efforts and the many legal instruments that exist in this regard, and which are based on the dignity of the individual, the protection afforded to them in practice is not sufficient. The reason for this lies in several factors, in particular, in the fact that although human dignity can be considered as the basis for the recognition of human rights on equal terms, its scope is limited to the most fundamental rights, such as life or the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, but does not imply more specific rights such as freedom of movement or residence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the problematic aspects of the thesis that bases human rights on the dignity of the person are presented. Following the metaphysics of the person of Thomas Aquinas, the ontological consistency referred to in this term is studied. Then the ideological inspiration of both modern «human rights» and Kantian ballast dignity is reviewed. The elements of natural rights that still exist in modern human rights theory are based on human nature, not directly and exclusively in the ontological dignity of the person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross between aging and progressive dependence gives rise to one of the most vulnerable stages in the existence of every human being. In this paper I ask myself to what extent the perspective of human rights is being correctly applied to this group of elderly and highly dependent people. To answer this question, I begin by distinguishing between the concepts of existential vulnerability and constructed vulnerability. While the first must be assumed by individuals and cared for by society, the second must be fought. Next, I review the public policies that have been promoted at a global and regional level in relation to the recognition of the rights of older people who are becoming increasingly dependent. This review leads me to notice a certain disproportion between the insistence on guaranteeing the rights of the elderly who can act autonomously compared to those who, being highly dependent and close to dying, can barely lead an independent life. This emphasis on active and healthy ageing, if it does not integrate long-term and end-of-life care, may end up turning against older people when they are more fragile, because it is based on a lack of knowledge of existential vulnerability that generates constructed vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the concept of human rights in Jacques Maritain and his the role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 continue to generate significant interest among scholars and researchers. This interest is driven by a desire to understand the foundations of human rights in a multicultural context as well as the influence of the French philosopher on the composition of the UDHR. Charles Malik, a Lebanese philosopher and diplomat, was a nuclear drafter of the UDHR. An extensive archive of Malik’s papers is preserved at the Library of Congress, including large sections from his university years and his tenure as Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations. In order to provide original sources, this article presents Charles Malik’s references to the person and thought of Jacques Maritain, which will serve as a valuable resource for future researchers seeking to explain and clarify Maritain’s role and ideas in the drafting of the UDHR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I analyze the risks of transhumanism from a legal-philosophical perspective, a development that proposes to transform human beings through the direct application of advanced technologies. I highlight the weak points of transhumanism, calling into question its goals, its moral principles and its conception of the human being. Instead, I defend a humanism that preserves personal autonomy and human dignity. Moreover, I point to the need for an adequate ethical education to recognize the enormous danger involved in blindly following science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that John Finnis' basic goods may provide a reasonable basis for present-day bio-rights. To this end we start by recalling the present situation of human rights -which are not at their best, but rather in a situation of hyper-pluralistic fragmentation and proliferation- and their need for a foundation; in particular, for the so-called bio-rights. In the following, we will present the main aspects of John Finnis' work regarding basic goods and their demands; especially their relationship with rights. To conclude, we will discuss if considering John Finnis's basic goods as foundation for bio-rights would allow us to give a minimum of order and meaning in the mentioned landscape of proliferation and hyper-pluralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to highlight the validity of an argument employed by Javier Hervada in one of his papers. According to him, the fact that human rights declarations relating to human rights as rights «recognized» has a significant impact on the Philosophy of Law. After synthesizing the ideas of Hervada, I will seek to extend to an area that is only implicit in his argument: the general theory of human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the decline of the modern state on the transformation of the Ius Publicum Ecclesiasticum Externum, a discipline that emerged alongside the rise in the late Middle Ages of a particular form of political organization known as the modern state. It analyzes the process by which the modern state emerged and developed, based primarily on the concept of sovereignty. The Church addressed this phenomenon through the development of the Ius Publicum Ecclesiasticum Externum. Amongst other factors, globalization and the eclipse of the concept of sovereignty are expected to lead to the decline of the modern state. These circumstances favor the transformation of the Ius Publicum, which tends to offer a universal vision that favors the protection of human rights and views the Church as a People of God, opening a greater space in which laypeople may foster the Christian spirit in the temporal order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is often thought that the lack of agreement about the 'why' of human rights, led the drafters of the Universal Declaration in 1948, to avoid any attempt to establish any kind of metaphysical claims about human rights. This paper shows how the drafters of the Declaration built a complete but unfinished argument about the foundation or about the rational justification of human rights. They have articulate a description of a real 'being', which is possible 'to know', that justify a 'duty'. The practical agreement reached by the drafters is only possible, if they state minimum metaphysical truths, admit a practical knowledge, and sustain deontic commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that the theory of the collision of rights, and its accompanying methodologies of interpretation, should be discarded by logical and legal inconsistencies. It offers, in return, an alternative to properly determine the scope of reasonable functioning of rights, and to achieve its harmonization. The emphasis is placed on reasonableness review or proportionality principle, dividing it into six steps or tests. The work takes as axis of the analysis a case on social rights of the Supreme Court of Argentina, where was examined the regulation of mandatory vaccination of children, challenged for the parents. The article made a application exercise of these six tests of reasonableness, presenting concretely how to analyze these legal issues looking for the just answer to the case, which also involved technical aspects and discretionary decisions of the State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many classifications of social rights, all of them aimed at mitigating the enforce ability of these rights. In this paper I argue that this classifications have a theoretically questionable starting point. On the one hand, that some human rights depend for their effect of the will of the legislator (which is intrinsically opposed to the notion of human rights). On the other hand, the misconception that human rights are divisible and therefore available. This latest budget is derived directly from John Locke's contractualism. By contrast, the conception of John Finnis on basic human goods allows a more comprehensive response to the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author begins by summarizing Luigi Ferrajoli's proposal on the philosophical foundation of fundamental rights. He later makes a critical analysis of the principal points. Mainly, the author studies the instrumental character of this founding strategy, its debatable logical coherence, its undeniable relativism, its limitations towards the subjects of rights and, finally, the impossibility to overcome, consistently, the positivist reductionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While positions on the public role of religion in Western societies are polarized primarily into the secular and secularism, for some years there have been a series of arguments that do not seem to fit either in one or the other category. They therefore suggest a revision of the model that the West has assumed to be secular and politically correct when encompassing the relationship between politics and religion. These ideas are held by non-Catholic intellectuals, including some who are not believers. They argue for the re-visioning of secularization from different scientific and epistemological positions: historical, philosophical, sociological, political theory, theological and others. The objective of this paper is to briefly describe these and also set forth the problems associated with this discussion when establishing human rights, an area of particular sensitivity due to the interaction between politics and religion in the contemporary context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the objective of this research paper is to reflect on the impact that the appearance and development of International Human Rights Law has had on the functioning of different national law systems, specifically in Latin America, and to identify some of the interesting and demanding challenges, both theoretical and practical, that this phenomenon poses to the world of law. In the analysis of these transformations, some of the questions addressed are: the juridical grounding of the former; the complex task of how to harmonize, both political and legally, the national and international instances; some practical and operative problems that have appeared with the rise of the international courts that specialise in these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]