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Call for Publications Theme: Human Rights Subtitle: A Framework for Ethical Pluralism or for Substantive Ethics? Publication: Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy Date: Issue 3 (January 2014) Deadline: 28.11.2013 __________________________________________________ Despite of having become a sort of linguafranca capable of shaping debates on global justice, international relationships, and domestic policies, human rights notoriously lack the grounds of a solid and shared justificatory framework. At its origin, the rights-discourse was founded on natural law, either theologically or secularly conceived. During the age of revolutions, natural rights became human rights, thus abdicating their metaphysically «thick» grounding, but not their universal claim. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights continued to offer a similar challenge, shaped by our present-day concerns. What’s more, contemporary societies are, generally speaking, more secularized and fragmented than they were two centuries ago, and human rights have been called upon as a device for solving situations of conflict in which there is no possibility of referring to a unitary and cohesive vision of morality. In this sense, human rights have become a medium for resolving strife and promoting cooperation for societies which do not impose a single standard for the good life on their participants. At the same time, however, while such a standard for the good life is rejected, human rights are seen as universal criteria of normativity. This causes a paradox: societies that reject substantive forms of ethics have nevertheless come to accept what seems to be the odd and weak Sittlichkeit of human rights as something to be imposed on everyone and everywhere in the world. Several contemporary legal discourses, in their turn, notably (attempt to) bypass the problematic character disclosed by the ethical dimension of human rights by systematically and exclusively focusing on the legalistic aspect of the concept. Yet, this shift – helpful as it may seem – should not lead us to abandon the fundamental issue concerning the very ethical meaning of human rights. In such an ethical dimension, in fact, there is a set of urgent questions which still call for discussions and possible answers: Is a strong grounding really needed for the discourse on human rights? What should the content of the claims involved in human rights be? Which modifications to the universal framework of human rights are required for the continuing proliferation of particular new subjects of rights? Does the claim of universality of human rights really hold? How can phenomenological, genealogical, and deconstructive approaches contribute to such a fundamental question as to the universality of human rights? With this call for papers we invite scholars and researches to contribute to the discussion of these issues. Suggested themes for papers include: - Human rights: a framework for ethical pluralism or for substantive ethics? - The universality of the human rights: interpretative and critical paths - Justifying human rights: substantive as opposed to operative justifications - The proliferation of possible subjects of rights and the universal agenda of human rights - The content of human rights. - Contemporary critiques and critics of human rights Papers may be submitted in one of the following languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian. Submitted papers must be in accordance with the basic principles of Metodo (http://metodo-rivista.eu/var/Metodo_presentation.pdf), and follow the Author Guidelines (http://metodo-rivista.eu/index.php/metodo/about/submissions#authorGuidelines). All contributions will be peer-reviewed by two anonymous referees. The editorial board advises the authors writing articles in foreign languages (not native speakers) to have their texts proofread and revised prior to submission. Deadline: November, 28th, 2013 Editors: Pierfrancesco Biasetti and Ferdinando G. Menga Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy Edited by Metodo Associazione, Milano - Italy ISSN 2281-9177 Journal website: http://www.metodo-rivista.eu __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
