Title: The Debate on ‘Universalism’ and ‘Cultural Relativism’ in International Human Rights Law
Abstract: Abstract Chapter 1 analyses the origins and development of the debate on 'universalism' and 'cultural relativism' of human rights. In order to properly understand and contextualize such a debate, the philosophical foundations and development of international human rights are also investigated, emphasizing that they are based on natural law and are made effective within human societies through the associative process of the social contract. The meaning of 'inherent human dignity' and the significance of human rights in epistemological terms are finally addressed. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the main problem preventing the finding of a generally agreed solution to the debate on 'universalism' and 'cultural relativism' of human rights is probably represented by the fact that so far it has mainly been considered according to rigid and monolithic schemes of universalism and relativism For this reason, at the end of the chapter a methodological revisitation of the problem is proposed.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-02-06
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 3
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