ABSTRACT

This chapter is concerned with Charles Beitz's and Joseph Raz's practice-based versions of the political approach, in terms of which the international legal and political practice of human rights should set the agenda for philosophical reflection on human rights. It argues that Beitz's and Raz's focus on the international practice of human rights imposes arbitrary constraints on their theorizing, by forcing them to narrow their theories in a way that is normatively implausible. The chapter also argues that there are respects in which Beitz's and Raz's normative views do not align with the practice. Raz describes his theory as an 'ethical doctrine of human rights', and makes clear that his theory is a normative theory of human rights practice. Raz argues that international human rights are a special kind of right, quite different from the rights protected by domestic constitutions.