Publication details
Performative Contradiction as Basis for Recognition of Human Rights
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| Citation | |
| Description | Most human rights theories fail to solve the Is-Ought problem successfully. In this context, Robert Alexy's approach, which takes performative contradiction as a basis for recognition of these rights, is interesting. However, significant objections can be made to it, in particular that the rights based on it are not really universal. According to the author, Alan Gewirth's theory stands up better to these objections. This approach, as its ambition, proclaims the solution of the Is-Ought problem. At this point it fails. But if we interpret its starting point as a performative contradiction, we get a more coherent and justifiable theory than Alexy's. The aim of this paper is to situate both theories on a common basis and then compare their advantages and disadvantages. |
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