João Cardoso Rosas

Universidade do Minho

Naturalism, Consensus and Practice

in the Philosophy of Human Rights

3 March 2017, 16:00

Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa

Sala Mattos Romão (Departamento de Filosofia)

Abstract: Human rights philosophies are nowadays often divided into three basic categories: naturalism; consensus theories; and the practical or “political” approach. In addition, these three categories are generally seen as mutually exclusive. My presentation is intended to criticize this prevailing view by showing that the three theories in question are not incompatible because they are specific answers to three distinct philosophical problems, namely, about the philosophical foundation of human rights, about the permanence of doctrinal pluralism, and about the character of the current human rights regime.