Human Rights

Question 1

What are human rights?

Answer 1

• apply to individuals
• protect individuals from abuse by the state
• innate
• universal
• natural rights - Paine - rights of man apply to all men

Question 2

Utilitarianism

Answer 2

• individidual rights are not the most important
• focus on making the majority happy
• sacrifice of individual rights - eg. torture to stop terrorists???

Question 3

Generations of rights

Answer 3

• civil and political - restrain state power
• social, economic and cultural - place duty on state
• group rights - usually minorities

Question 4

Cultural Relativism

Answer 4

• rights are a product of particular societies - can’t be universal
• Shestack - human rights cant be universal as morals are different
• used to justify abuse

Question 5

Realist perspective

Answer 5

• state orientated
• national interest
• state sovereignty
• focus on relative power and conflicts of interest

Question 6

Liberal perspective

Answer 6

• interdependence
• international organisations
• international regimes
• focus on rules and procedures