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Joaquín Rodríguez-Toubes Muñiz
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Spain
Vol 17 No 2 (2010): International Tribute to Esperanza Guisán (Volume I), Articles, pages 107-128
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15304/t.17.2.766
Submitted: 16-01-2013 Accepted: 16-01-2013
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Abstract

Some utilitarian philosophers justify protecting of human rights because of their utility, but deny that such obligation may override the more fundamental ethical duty to promote well-being. The paper argues that human rights are goods with a moral value which is partially independent of the welfare they cause, and therefore they create requirements that can oppose and overcome the reasons to increase global welfare. From this idea the discussion follows on the sufficiency of an Ethics based solely on rights, on the conflicts of human rights among themselves and with other moral goods, and on the justification of the inalienability of human rights.
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