Fundamental human rights and controversial cultural practices: A new reading of the concept of human dignity

Abstract

This article proposes a new philosophical approach about fundamental human rights to make clear the differences between controvertial cultural practices and violations of rights, through a new reading about the concept of human dignity developed by Immanuel Kant. This research suggests the adoption of an ethical concept of fundamental human rights with the aim to reconcile Relativistic theories, which are opposed to universal respect for these rights, with the Universalist positions that advocate the unconditional observance of these rights in all cultures. The compromise between these two positions is possible, using Kant’s theory, through an understanding of fundamental human rights as a subspecies of the genus human rights, which is responsible for maintaining human dignity at a fundamental level and protecting individuals against any form of objectification or reduction of their status as subjects with rights. Thus, the moral peculiarities of each culture are respected and recognized as individual forms of human achievement, provided that they do not imply the reduction of the individual to a mere instrument or object. 

Key words: Fundamental Human Rights, Universalism, Relativism, Multiculturalism, Human Dignity.