HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

In: International journal of human rights, Band 1, Heft 1, S. 86-111

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE IS AN EXERCISE IN "INTERNATIONALIST ETHICS," THAT IS AN INQUIRY INTO THE ETHICAL BASIS OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, IT CONCERNS THE IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF ACCEPTING THE THESIS THAT THERE ARE HUMAN RIGHTS. THE AUTHOR DEFINES WHAT A HUMAN RIGHT IS, AND HOW TALK OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRESUPPOSES A UNIVERSALIST/COSMOPOLITAN MORAL THEORY. HE LOOKS AT SEVERAL DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE MORAL RELATIONS BETWEEN STATES AND CONCLUDES THAT A UNIVERSALIST/COSMOPOLITAN THEORY IS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE ONE.