SW59
ENCOUNTERING DIFFERENCE: THE ‘OTHER’ PHILOSOPHIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS (MULTILINGUAL)
CONVENOR: FLORENCIA BENÍTEZ-SCHAEFER
This workshop is dedicated to the encounter with philosophies of law and normativity that depart from ‘modern’ Western understandings, linking them with key categories of Human Rights. Our aim is to explore how these ‘other’ philosophies envisage core categories related to Human Rights like ‘Justice’, ‘Dignity’, ‘Freedom’ or ‘Development’. We want to inquire into how far and how these different philosophies (can) relate to, contrast with and nurture contemporary debate in Legal Philosophy.
That Law and Human Rights are directly linked to a specific notion of the ‘human condition’ is by now nothing new. Exemplarily, Legal Anthropology and Legal Pluralism research have studied and dialogued with the ‘legal Others’ of Westerncentrism. Also contemporary psychology currents, like Depth, Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, connecting to ancient philosophies over the world, have emphasized systemic and relational perspectives. As a result they have expanded our understanding of what does it entail to be human, particularly what influences and eventually transforms human behaviour. These approaches (as much as the ongoing technological advances and ecological challenges) put in question the ‘traditional’ Western model of a rather independent rational individual that pervades most of current legal and human rights discussion.
In this line, we invite contributions that focus on the links between Human Rights and philosophies different from so-called ‘modern’ Western understandings of the ‘human’. Of the many possible ways to start our conversation, some possibilities are:
• Approaches to ‘dignity’ and ‘justice’ in neglected Western pre-modern philosophies, eg. ancient Greek as well as Germanic approaches, philosophies related to the cult of the Great Mother;
• Indigenous approaches to human-nature relations, eg. as expressed in the debate over Nature Rights and the personhood of rivers in New Zealand and India;
• Non-individualistic philosophies of human conflict (and peace) and their connection to key categories of Human Rights
We highly welcome contributions in languages different from English, please specify your preferred language of presentation. Nevertheless, for a first exchange, please attach an English translation of your abstract.
That Law and Human Rights are directly linked to a specific notion of the ‘human condition’ is by now nothing new. Exemplarily, Legal Anthropology and Legal Pluralism research have studied and dialogued with the ‘legal Others’ of Westerncentrism. Also contemporary psychology currents, like Depth, Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, connecting to ancient philosophies over the world, have emphasized systemic and relational perspectives. As a result they have expanded our understanding of what does it entail to be human, particularly what influences and eventually transforms human behaviour. These approaches (as much as the ongoing technological advances and ecological challenges) put in question the ‘traditional’ Western model of a rather independent rational individual that pervades most of current legal and human rights discussion.
In this line, we invite contributions that focus on the links between Human Rights and philosophies different from so-called ‘modern’ Western understandings of the ‘human’. Of the many possible ways to start our conversation, some possibilities are:
• Approaches to ‘dignity’ and ‘justice’ in neglected Western pre-modern philosophies, eg. ancient Greek as well as Germanic approaches, philosophies related to the cult of the Great Mother;
• Indigenous approaches to human-nature relations, eg. as expressed in the debate over Nature Rights and the personhood of rivers in New Zealand and India;
• Non-individualistic philosophies of human conflict (and peace) and their connection to key categories of Human Rights
We highly welcome contributions in languages different from English, please specify your preferred language of presentation. Nevertheless, for a first exchange, please attach an English translation of your abstract.