The Moral Foundation of Human Rights

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to examine Kantian moral grammar and its relationship with the contemporary notion of human rights. It is based on the hypothesis that contemporary ethical reflections on the philosophical foundations of human rights are still within the “moral enclosure” established by the “Kantian paradigm of practical reason.” It then affirms that the perspective of moral evaluation of the principal guidelines of human rights follows, to a large degree, the determinations of Kantian critical thinking. It concludes by formulating research perspectives and admitting the importance of their continuity for the philosophical foundation of human rights.