Foundations of Human Rights: Metaphysics, Essentialism, and Intuitionism

Abstract This article addresses the philosophical foundations of human rights without recourse to religion or metaphysics. It begins with the requirements of a non-religious theory of human rights and then discusses Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach. Because her account relies on intuition to play a major role, this article compares two intuitionists, Johannes Morsink and David Little, whose works address the moral intuitionism of those who drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as well as the foundations of human rights more generally. It argues that Little's rational intuitionism represents the best possible intuitionist defense of human rights, yet there are important questions of moral growth and attention to context it must answer going forward.