Tiers and Tears: A Philosophical Exploration of a Hierarchy of International Human Rights
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Authors
Layson, Toby
Issue Date
2025-04-03
Type
Language
Keywords
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Abstract
Description
I develop a philosophical argument to support the claim that the universality principle of
international human rights is unrealistic, as it does not account for the inequal distribution of the
physical existence and expression of human rights by humans in different situations. I begin by
outlining the philosophical background of John Locke, John Rawls, naturalism, and positivism.
Subsequently, to more accurately understand the expression, existence, and value of international
human rights, I have created, out of the naturalist and positivist perspectives of legal validity, a
physical hierarchy revolving around the de facto and de jure existence of human rights and a
metaphysical hierarchy revolving around a teleological structure of intrinsic and instrumental
value. Together, these hierarchies can better analyze which rights are more freely recognized,
protected, expressed, and valued relative to others. I develop my argument through case studies
of the right to freedom from torture, the right to clean water and sanitation, and the right to
internet access, justifying them in their respective places on the hierarchy of human rights.