Abstract
One of the main criticisms directed against the legitimacy of internationally recognized human rights is that they are ethnocentric or parochial. The examination of this objection leads to the conclusion that it is not relativism but cultural-ethical pluralism the main challenge to the universal validity of human rights. Ethical pluralism queries that the justification of human rights that has prevailed since the approval of the UDHR has arbitrarily given, under a deceptive appearance of universality, a weight far superior to individualistic values than to collectivistic. After examining some of the main attempts to overcome this challenge (the constructive theory of human rights and justificatory minimalism), the one based on the defense of a kind of ethical individualism compatible with a moderate ethical objectivism is defended as a preferable alternative.
Highlights
THE PAROCHIAL OBJECTIONOne of the main criticisms directed against the legitimacy of internationally recognized human rights is that they are ethnocentric
Ethical pluralism queries that the justification of human rights that has prevailed since the approval of the UDHR has arbitrarily given, under a deceptive appearance of universality, a weight far superior to individualistic values than to collectivistic
After examining some of the main attempts to overcome this challenge, the one based on the defense of a kind of ethical individualism compatible with a moderate ethical objectivism is defended as a preferable alternative
Summary
One of the main criticisms directed against the legitimacy of internationally recognized human rights is that they are ethnocentric. It is a more modest metaethical thesis, ethical pluralism queries this universality much more seriously Both meanings of the parochial objection must be distinguished from another type of accusation of ethnocentrism to which human rights have been subjected: that they are a Western concept that is not, in many cases, transferable or translatable to other societies and cultures. According to this version, the concept of human rights could not be extrapolated from the context of the culture and history in which it was conceived into a global valid notion. People in whose cultures the concept of a right may not be indigenous have found it to be extremely valuable for protecting their vital interests[5]
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