Universal Human Rights in Theory and PracticeJack Donnelly--SE

Prepared by:

Dr. Caroline (Kay) Picart

Assistant Professor of English and Humanities

Courtesy Assistant Professor of Law

Aims

To examine what does it mean to have a right

To analyze, even at a preliminary level, how does being human give rise to rights?

Question:

In what two senses/contexts do we use the word “right”?

Question

According to Donnelly, what are the three distinct forms of social interaction that involve rights?

Question

What are the special features of a “human right”?

Questions

Why are human rights “self-liquidating” and “extra-legal”?

Question

What is the source of human rights?

Question

In what ways are human rights a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Questions

Who are the subjects of human rights?

How are these subjects implicitly characterized?

The Subjects of Human Rights

Donnelly argues that only individuals, not collective groups, have human rights.

Do you agree or disagree and why?

Discussion Question

Donnelly writes: “It is individuals, not groups, that have rights to food, health care, work, social security, due process, freedom of the press, protection against discrimination . . .” (p. 20)

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of this argument.

Question

What is Donnelly’s model for explaining human rights in relation to human nature?

Questions

List as many rights as you can that are part of the International Bill of Human Rights

Discuss the implications of these rights

How is the human body envisaged through these rights?

The Status of Economic/Social Rights

Economic/social rights are neither universal, practical, nor of paramount importance and “belong to a different logical category” . . . –that is, they are not truly human rights. (p. 31)

Do you agree? Why or why not?

Question

“All human rights require both positive action and restraint on the part of the state. Furthermore, whether a right is relatively positive or negative usually depends on historically contingent circumstances.”

Give examples.

Question

Do “negative” civil and political rights deserve higher priority than “positive” economic and social rights?

Question

Is there such a thing as a “basic right”?

Question

How does Donnelly assess these lists?

Do you agree or disagree and why?

Question

According to Donnelly, what are some of the problems in linking foreign policy with human rights?

Activity

What human rights are implicitly acknowledged by the Nazi propaganda short, The Fuehrer Gives a City to the Jews?

Source:

Donnelly, Jack. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1989.