Università Roma Tre

Today human rights are the dominant moral doctrine for evaluating the moral status of the contemporary geo-political order. In the 20th century a broad consensus has emerged on framing judgment of nations against an international moral code prescribing certain benefits and treatment for all humans. Within many nations, political debates rage over the denial or abuse of human rights. Legal documents to protect human rights have proliferated. The course examines the philosophical basis and content of the doctrine of human rights. It assesses the contemporary significance of human rights, charts the historical development of the concept of human rights, beginning with a discussion of the earliest philosophical origins of the bases of human rights and culminating in some of most recent developments in their codification. It analyses also the formal and substantive distinctions philosophers have drawn between various forms and categories of human rights, the justifications of their claims, and the main criticism currently addressed to them.