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Human rights and the legitimacy of the international order

Publication ,  Journal Article
Buchanan, A
Published in: Legal Theory
January 1, 2008

The international legal order is beginning to take human rights seriously, yet sound justifications for claims about human rights are conspicuously absent. Philosophers have begun to respond to this “justification deficit” by developing theories of human rights. Although a philosophical conception of human rights is needed, it would not be sufficient. The justification of human rights is a dynamic process in which a provisional philosophical conception of human rights both guides and is fleshed out by public processes of practical reasoning structured by legal institutions. Whether the “justification deficit” can be remedied depends not only upon the content of human rights norms as set out in the major conventions and the arguments philosophers can marshal to justify them but also upon the epistemic virtues of the institutions through which the norms are specified, contested, and revised over time. © 2008, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Legal Theory

DOI

EISSN

1469-8048

ISSN

1352-3252

Publication Date

January 1, 2008

Volume

14

Issue

1

Start / End Page

39 / 70

Related Subject Headings

  • 5003 Philosophy
  • 4804 Law in context
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 1801 Law
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Buchanan, A. (2008). Human rights and the legitimacy of the international order. Legal Theory, 14(1), 39–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352325208080038
Buchanan, A. “Human rights and the legitimacy of the international order.” Legal Theory 14, no. 1 (January 1, 2008): 39–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352325208080038.
Buchanan A. Human rights and the legitimacy of the international order. Legal Theory. 2008 Jan 1;14(1):39–70.
Buchanan, A. “Human rights and the legitimacy of the international order.” Legal Theory, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp. 39–70. Scopus, doi:10.1017/S1352325208080038.
Buchanan A. Human rights and the legitimacy of the international order. Legal Theory. 2008 Jan 1;14(1):39–70.
Journal cover image

Published In

Legal Theory

DOI

EISSN

1469-8048

ISSN

1352-3252

Publication Date

January 1, 2008

Volume

14

Issue

1

Start / End Page

39 / 70

Related Subject Headings

  • 5003 Philosophy
  • 4804 Law in context
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 1801 Law