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Full-Text Articles in Human Rights Law
Human Rights Pragmatism And Human Dignity, David Luban
Human Rights Pragmatism And Human Dignity, David Luban
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Human rights sound a lot like moral rights: rights that we have because we are human. Many philosophers think it follows that the list of international human rights must therefore be founded on some philosophical account of moral rights or of human dignity. More recently, other philosophers have rejected this foundationalist picture of international human rights (“foundationalist” meaning that moral rights are the foundation of international human rights). These critics argue that international human rights need no philosophical foundation; instead, we should look to the actual practices of human rights: the practices of international institutions, tribunals, NGOs, monitors, and activists. …
Human Dignity, Humiliation, And Torture, David Luban
Human Dignity, Humiliation, And Torture, David Luban
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Modern human rights instruments ground human rights in the concept of human dignity, without providing an underlying theory of human dignity. This paper examines the central importance of human dignity, understood as not humiliating people, in traditional Jewish ethics. It employs this conception of human dignity to examine and criticize U.S. use of humiliation tactics and torture in the interrogation of terrorism suspects.