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Power and Weaknesses of the Idea of Natural Rights

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Perspectives on Philosophy of Management and Business Ethics

Part of the book series: Ethical Economy ((SEEP,volume 51))

Abstract

This chapter presents the classical objections towards the idea of natural rights and continues by discussing an approach that undermines the persistent meaning of the idea of human rights. It will seek to demonstrate the long-lasting meaning of the concept of human dignity according to a important historical stages in debates about human rights and human dignity, i.e. debates of the late Spanish scholasticism.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Statement being supported by explanation by: Schockenhoff 1996, especially pp. 181–197; Schockenhoff 2008; Koenig 2005. All quotations are my translation.

  2. 2.

    See Schockenhoff 2008.

  3. 3.

    See Albert 1985, 18–19: “If one demands a justification for everything, one must also demand a justification for the knowledge to which one has referred back the views initially requiring foundation. This leads to a situation with three alternatives, all of which appear unacceptable: in other words, to a Trilemma which […] I should call the Münchhausen Trilemma. For, obviously, one must choose here between (1) an infinite regress, which seems to arise from the necessary to go further back in search for foundations, and which, since it is in practice impossible, affords no secure basis; (2) a logical circle in the deduction, which arises because, in the process of justification, statements are used which arises because, in the process of justification, statements are used which were characterized before as in need of foundation, so that they can provide no secure basis; and finally, (3) the breaking-off of the process at a particular point, which, admittedly, can always be done in principle, but involves an arbitrary suspension of the principle of sufficient justification”.

  4. 4.

    Naturally, there are other objections, such as descriptive relativism in today’s pluralistic society or metaethical and normative relativism, which is supported mainly by the existence of different cultures and moral conceptions so that there can possibly be universal validity. See Koenig 2005, 120–133.

  5. 5.

    On the impact of scholastic teaching on the development of basic human rights see Höffner 1947, 1969.

  6. 6.

    There is an analytically proven dependence of Grotius of the late Spanish scholastics. Spanish scholastics were the “most important source” for Grotius and he “derived many of his ideas from them”: Höffner 1969, 411. Also: Höffner 1969, 309–327.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ingolstadt School of Management, Catholic University of Germany, Eichstätt, Germany

    Giuseppe Franco

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  1. Giuseppe Franco
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Franco .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences & Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Jacob Dahl Rendtorff

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Franco, G. (2017). Power and Weaknesses of the Idea of Natural Rights. In: Rendtorff, J. (eds) Perspectives on Philosophy of Management and Business Ethics. Ethical Economy, vol 51. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46973-7_21

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