ABSTRACT
In contemporary politics, the concept of human rights plays a prominent role. This chapter outlines the practical approach in more detail, using Charles Beitz's account as an exemplar of the approach. The basic idea behind the practical approach is that human rights are best understood as the objects of an evolving international political practice that humans have developed in order to secure certain important benefits. The chapter also outlines the pragmatic dilemma. Briefly and roughly, the dilemma is that promoting the truth of the practical account risks undermining the value of the practice it is intended to vindicate. Practice-dependent theorists of human rights tend to take a broadly consequentialist view of the importance of the institution of human rights: human rights practice is justified, insofar as it is, because it helps to make the world a better place by promoting certain important ends.
