Inherent Human Rights: Philosophical Roots Of The Universal Declaration

328 Pages·2009·1.866 MB·English

by  Johannes Morsink

Inherent Human Rights
Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights
Bert B. Lockwood, Jr., Series Editor
A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher.
Inherent Human Rights
Philosophical Roots of the Universal Declaration
Johannes Morsink
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia
Copyright © 2009 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly
citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written
permission from the publisher.
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morsink, Johannes.
Inherent human rights : philosophical roots of the Universal
Declaration / Johannes Morsink.
p. cm. — (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights
ISBN 978-0-8122-4162-4 (alk. paper)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Human rights—History—20th century. I. Title
JC571.M837 2009
323.01—dc22 2008041884
For Nancy
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Contents
Introduction: The Need to Think Beyond the Political 1
1. The Metaphysics of Inherence 17
2. Obeying the Conscience of Humanity 55
3. The Shortcomings of the Golden Rule 112
4. Human Rights Cosmopolitanism 148
5. The Charge of Unrealistic Utopianism 205
6. Human Rights and Democratic Participation 253
Notes 278
Index 303
Acknowledgments 319
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Introduction: The Need to Think
Beyond the Political
During the sixty years since its adoption by the Third UN General Assem-
bly in December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has
become a remarkable success story. When one buys the document in bulk
from the UN it costs only seventy-five cents, measures four by five inches,
and can be readily put in one’s hip pocket or purse. Yet within this little
blue and white booklet one finds articulated the moral lingua franca
of our age. This booklet has been the inspirational source for millions
of persecuted and oppressed individuals around the world. It has been
translated into even more languages than has the Bible. It became the
platform for thousands of domestic and international nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and served as a model for the bills of rights in the
constitutions of dozens of countries that have been liberated from colo-
nial yokes and crumbling empires. It is the ultimate source of almost any
human rights reference that my reader may run across in the media, and
it lies at the heart of most accusations that some government or other
has grossly abused the human rights of its own or other peoples. For all
these reasons it makes sense for us to scrutinize the Declaration and to
lay bare and explain the philosophical roots of the rights it proclaims.
Most great movements of history have had their texts to carry around
with them. For religious movements, it may be a version of the Bible, the
Qur’an, the Bhagavad Gita, or another sacred text. Believers can be seen
reading and getting in touch with their source of inspiration while stand-
ing in line or sitting on a bench. For those not religiously inclined, the
text could be Confucius’s Analects, Marx’s Communist Manifesto, or Mao’s
Little Red Book. To understand any of these religious or secular move-
ments and engage in dialogue with their members, others would do well
to follow their example and study these inspirational texts. They are ca-
nonical and serve as catechisms for their members, who study them to
learn the basics of their religious or secular faith. If we wish to succeed