A Personalistic Approach to Human Rights: Shifting Prevailing Philosophical Assumptions

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the prevailing philosophical presuppositions in human rights interpretations and how they provide a reductionist and partial vision of the human person and of rationality. This paradigm excludes the experiences and moral concerns of a significant segment of the global population and avoids engaging with the underlying claims behind human rights debates. In response to such a situation, this paper will introduce a personalistic philosophical approach to human rights as an alternative capable of explaining how the concept of ‘person’, as a relational self, can enrich the prevailing rationality in International Human Rights Law. The research suggests that looking at inter-subjective relationships, meaning, and an enlarged concept of ‘human experiences’ can provide a deeper understanding of the human person and it can help to frame human rights discussions in more diversified and inclusive terms.