Taking Responsibility for the Right to Have Rights: Hannah Arendt and the Shortcomings of International Law
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2025-07-10
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en
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The current situation in Gaza reveals a fundamental shortcoming of international law, namely that it always depends on sovereign nations for its implementation. This means that human rights do not have a universal basis, but rather depend on the political interests of the different nations of the world. Already in 1951, Arendt identified this problem. She proposed that a right to have rights is needed, that is, the right to belong to a political community. This paper argues that this right to have rights can overcome the shortcomings of international law because it has its basis in the universal human capacity of speech and action. It concludes that individuals, through speech and action, can take responsibility for the right to have rights by excluding themselves from the law. In this way, our rights do not depend on a nation, but on our fellow human beings.
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Faculteit der Filosofie, Theologie en Religiewetenschappen