Abstract

In this essay I want to show that it is possible to combine the claim of universality in human rights with the fact that various cultures involve various moral and legal traditions. I will argue for the concept of a “pragmatic” or “weak” universalism in which human rights are both: universal and concrete. First I shall present the traditional idea of human rights. Then I shall object the arguments of cultural relativism fighting universalism. And finally I shall draw the lines of a new ethic of human rights: Human rights have a rational basis, if they protect people against ultimately “counter-productive” actions (of the state).