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po-special-issue-2023-florian-th
The Universality of Human Rights: A
Reflection on Human and Non-Human Animal Similarities
Oldřich Tristan Florian,
Masaryk University, Faculty of Law, Department of Legal Theory
Právny obzor, 106, 2023,
special issue, pp. 21-40.
Published online: 20.2.2024
https://doi.org/10.31577/pravnyobzor.specialissue.2023.02
Abstract. While natural
rights are typically understood as applying only to humans, there are in fact no
suitable criteria which justify such an assumption. Indeed, arguments from
marginal cases show that characteristics which are considered innately human are
not in fact shared by all humans and can even be identified in some non-human
animals. However, if we try to dismiss the issue by implying that the fact of
being human is itself a sufficient criterion, the problem of evolutionary theory
then arises, with the gradual evolution of the human species suggesting that
several different human species coexisted at some point in the past. In order to
ensure the universality of human rights, we must draw the line not only in the
present but also in the past, and in this context it would seem logical to
extend natural rights to non-human animals. However, regardless of the criteria
which we apply to this issue, it remains problematic to justify why the ones we
have chosen are relevant to the existence of natural rights.
Keywords: human rights,
animal rights, universality, non-human animals, natural rights, argument from
marginal cases, speciesism
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ISSN 2729-9228
(online)
ISSN 0032-6984
(print)
THEORETICAL REVIEW FOR ISSUES OF STATE AND LAW.
Právny obzor is peer-reviewed journal and is indexed in SCOPUS and HeinOnline database (INDEX TO FOREIGN LEGAL PERIODICALS).
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OPEN ACCESS