Derecho natural y derechos humanos: síntesis práctica y complementariedad teórica

Abstract

The modern idea of human rights and the classical concept of natural law are not equivalent. Of course, they share the idea that not all law is conventional. But beyond this, the classical notion of natural law is clearly defined in the framework of the virtues, and consequently has a more practical orientation, and is more closely bound up with history; the notion of human rights, which has inherited the modern theories of natural rights, entails the subjectivization of the concept of right and tends to separate the human being from the historical and political context in which events take place. In this sense, the key concept associated with human rights is that of "dignity". Given that the two ideas have different starting points, and are different in their epistemological status, there are strictly speaking no grounds for devising a theoretical synthesis of the two theories. On the theoretical plane, we can only talk of their being complementary. The synthesis is something that will only come about in practice.