The project
Human rights are a crucial part of our moral and political vocabulary. Among other things, they give expression to the powerful idea that every human being – regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, language, religion, political opinion, sexual orientation, nationality, and origin – is deserving of moral concern, and can make a range of demands on their state, the international community, and other persons.
But human rights also face a variety of challenging philosophical, political, and legal problems that merit careful examination. This research project will look into a number of such questions, including the following:
- The Nature and Grounds of Human Rights: What are human rights, what is their “nature,” and what makes them distinct from other varieties of rights (e.g., constitutional rights, civil rights, animal rights, etc.)? What sort of evidence can we use to arrive at an answer to this question? And what is it that makes human rights worthy of respect? What, if anything, “grounds” their normative existence? ‘And do the grounds of human rights, for example, persons‘ interests or inviolable moral status, also ground further obligations to protect and aid right-holders to secure human rights?
- Duties to People Suffering Severe Poverty: Although the human right to basic necessities has been widely internationally ratified, there has been very little agreement about what obligations it entails. For instance, does the human right to basic necessities entail both negative and positive obligations towards compatriots and foreigners? And does the responsibility for fulfilling such obligations ultimately lie with the state, or with every agent who is able to do so?
- Human Rights and the Individual: Are human rights grounded primarily by what they do for the right-holder (e.g., ‘basic’ human rights), or by what they do for the wider community independently of their benefits to the right-holder (e.g. most property rights and other useful created systems of rights)? What sort of relationship do rights posit between duty-bearer and right-holder?
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The Challenges of Diversity: Human rights present themselves as standards that all societies are required to endorse. But the societies we live in differ in dramatic ways: culturally, politically, religiously, ideologically, geographically, technologically, economically, etc. Unsurprisingly, these differences generate special challenges for the human rights movement. Can universal human rights exist in a culturally diverse world? And even if such rights do exist, how can we possibly come to know them, given the influence of culture on our judgment? And how might we address deep cross-cultural disagreements on a variety of specific issues: women’s rights, the right to freedom of speech, the right to democracy, and the ethical implications of climate change?
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Human Rights and Refugee Displacement: The vast majority of the world’s refugees are subjected to extensive human rights violations both in the causes of their displacement and whilst they are displaced. How does this fact affect the obligations that the international community of states have towards such refugees? And how can ethical responses to refugee displacement be informed by human rights concerns?
People
- Elizabeth Ashford (St Andrews Philosophy)
- Bradley Hillier-Smith (St Andrews Philosophy)
- Adam Etinson (St Andrews Philosophy)
- Rowan Cruft (Stirling Philosophy)
- Jens Timmermann (St Andrews Philosophy)
- Patrick Hayden (St Andrews International Relations)
- Tony Lang (St Andrews International Relations)
- Theron Pummer (St Andrews Philosophy)
Recent Developments and Plans
Conferences:
- Human Rights at 70: Shrinking or Growing Conference – 10th -11th May 2018 – joint conference by the Centre for Ethics Philosophy and Public Affairs and the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews.
- “Assigning Roles to Human Rights” James W. Nickel (Miami Law), 26 September 2016, with comments by Adam Etinson.
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Adam Etinson organizes a yearly panel at the American Philosophical Association under the “Society for the Philosophy of Human Rights”, which he co-directs with Robert Simpson (Philosophy, Monash University) and Pablo Gilabert (Philosophy, Concordia University).
Works in Progress:
- Bradley Hillier-Smith: ‘Rights, Duties, and Inviolability’
- Bradley Hillier-Smith: ‘Duties to Victims of Human Rights Violations’
- Jens Timmermann is working on the question of what is prior, rights or duties. He has written some preliminary remarks on this in “Kant and the Second-Person Standpoint” in Grazer Philosophische Studien, Volume 90, Issue 1, pages 131-147.
Recent Publications:
- Bradley Hillier-Smith, The Ethics of State Responses to Refugees, Routledge, 2024
- Adam Etinson, “The Lure of Minimalism” in The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Human Rights eds. Jesse Tomalty & Kerri Woods (Routledge, Forthcoming).
- Adam Etinson: “What’s So Special About Human Dignity” (Philosophy and Public Affairs Volume 48 Issue 4, 2020)
- Rowan Cruft: Human Rights, Ownership and the Individual (OUP 2019)
- Adam Etinson (ed.): Human Rights: Moral or Political? (OUP 2018)
- Rowan Cruft (ed. with S. M. Liao and M. Renzo): Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights (OUP 2015)
- Patrick Hayden: “The Human Right to Health and the Challenge of Poverty”, in Chris Brown and Robyn Eckersley (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory (Oxford University Press, 2018)
- Patrick Hayden: “The Ethical Terrain of International Human Rights: From Invoking Dignity to Practicing Recognition”, in Brent Steele and Eric Heinze (eds), Routledge Handbook on Ethics and International Relations (Routledge, 2018)
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St Andrews Philosophy is hiring!
We are looking to fill five permanent positions!
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Ben Sachs tackles animal ethics
In a new series of three videos, Ben Sachs, Director of CEPPA, answers questions from the public on animal ethics. The questions are: How do we draw the line with animal ethics? Does animal ethics deal with domesticated species differently? What would happen to humanity if we stopped all animal testing? The videos are on the…
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Nine – Cecile Fabre
In this YouTube video, Cecile Fabre sits down with Ben Sachs to discuss a sensitive topic in light of the 2016 U.S. Presidential and Brexit votes—foreign interference with the democratic process. This is the last of the 1st Series of CEPPA Chats. The full list of episodes and video links can be found here.
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Eight – Helen Frowe
In this YouTube video, Helen Frowe sits down with Theron Pummer to talk about whether it makes sense to think of soldiers as more legitimate targets of military force than civilians. Follow CEPPA on Twitter @_CEPPA to see each new episode of the 1st Series of CEPPA Chats as they’re released on Mondays at 4pm.
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An open letter to JK Rowling’s blog post on Sex and Gender
Sophie-Grace Chappell recently published this piece on Crooked Timber.
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Lara Jost – Medical Humanities Seminar – 24 June – “Endometriosis and Sources of Knowledge”
Wednesday 24th June, 1 – 2pm Lara Jost (CEPPA Postgraduate Member) ‘Endometriosis and Sources of Knowledge’ Lara currently works on sources of knowledge, and the credibility deficit incurred by people using what is not deemed an ‘appropriate’ source of knowledge. Endometriosis provides a great case study to discuss, as there is a real tension between only…
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Seven – Hilary Greaves
In this YouTube video, Hilary Greaves sits down with Theron Pummer to offer her controversial viewpoint on poverty, global health, extinction, artificial superintelligence, and which problems are most worth our effort to avert Follow CEPPA on Twitter @_CEPPA to see each new episode of the 1st Series of CEPPA Chats as they’re released on Mondays at…
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Six – Jeff McMahan
In this YouTube video, Jeff McMahan sits down with Ben Sachs to talk about whether animals are the moral equals of humans, how we ought to treat humans with severe cognitive limitations, and whether there is anything wrong with eating lab-grown meat. Follow CEPPA on Twitter @_CEPPA to see each new episode of the 1st…
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Five – Thomas Schmidt
In this YouTube video, Thomas Schmidt sits down with Johannes Nickl to talk about what we can reasonably expect from an ethical theory. Follow CEPPA on Twitter @_CEPPA to see each new episode of the 1st Series of CEPPA Chats as they’re released on Mondays at 4pm.
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Four – John Haldane
In this YouTube video, John Haldane, sits down with Theron Pummer to talk about what it is to be reasonable and whether we should restrain the way we present our opinions in the public forum. For those interested in Professor Haldane’s work, you’re warmly invited to attend this year’s Sir Malcolm Knox Memorial Lecture, at…
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Three – Julia Nefsky
In this YouTube video, Julia Nefsky sits down with Theron Pummer to talk about the seeming insignificance of any individual’s actions as they relate to large-scale problems such as global warming and whether this means that we’re free to do as we wish. Follow CEPPA on Twitter @_CEPPA to see each new episode of the…
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CEPPA Chats, 1st Series, Episode Two – Roger Crisp
In this YouTube video, Roger Crisp sits down with Theron Pummer to talk about how we acquire private property and about borders and immigration. Follow CEPPA on Twitter @_CEPPA to see each new episode of the 1st Series of CEPPA Chats as they’re released on Mondays at 4pm.