God, New Natural Law Theory, and Human Rights

Year 2022, Volume: 5 Issue: 8, 231 - 246, 07.03.2022

Translator: Yunus Emre Berber

Abstract

Critics of the “New” Natural Law (NNL) theory have raised questions about the role of the divine in that theory. This paper considers that role in regard to its account of human rights: can the NNL account of human rights be sustained without a more or less explicit advertence to “the question of God’s existence or nature or will”? It might seem that Finnis’s “elaborate sketch” includes a full theory of human rights even prior to the introduction of his reflections on the divine in the concluding chapter of Natural Law and Natural Rights. But in this essay, I argue that an adequate account of human rights cannot, in fact, be sustained without some role for God’s creative activity in two dimensions, the ontological and the motivational. These dimensions must be distinguished from the epistemological dimension of human rights, that is, the question of whether epistemological access to truths about human rights is possible without reference to God’s existence, nature, or will. The NNL view is that such access is possible. However, I will argue, the epistemological cannot be entirely cabined off from the relevant ontological and motivational issues and the NNL framework can accommodate this fact without difficulty.

Keywords

New Natural Law Theory, Natural Law, Human Rights, God

Tanrı, Yeni Doğal Hukuk Kuramı ve İnsan Hakları

Abstract

“Yeni” Doğal Hukuk (YDH) kuramının eleştirileri bu kuramdaki ilahi olanın rolü hakkındaki soruları gündeme getirmiştir. Bu çalışma ilahi olanın rolünü bu kuramın insan haklarını temellendirmesi üzerinden ele almaktadır: YDH’nin insan hakları temellendirmesi “Tanrı’nın varlığı, doğası ya da iradesi meselesi”ne az ya da çok açık bir gönderme yapmadan hayatiyetini sürdürebilir mi? Finnis’in “ayrıntılı taslağının” Doğal Hukuk ve Doğal Hakların sonuç bölümünde ilahi olana ilişkin düşüncelerini ortaya koymasından önce bile tam bir insan hakları kuramını içerdiği görülebilir. Fakat bu makalede, yeterince güçlü bir insan hakları temellendirmesinin Tanrı’nın ontolojik ve motivasyonel olan iki boyuttaki yaratıcı etkinliğine biraz olsun rol vermeden hayatiyetini sürdürmeyeceğini iddia etmekteyim. Bahsi geçen bu boyutlar Tanrı’ya, doğasına veya iradesine gönderme yapmadan insan haklarıyla ilgili hakikatlere epistemolojik açıdan ulaşmanın mümkün olup olmadığı meselesi olan insan haklarının epistemolojik boyutundan ayrılmalıdır. YDH yaklaşımı bahsi geçen göndermeleri yapmadan insan haklarına ilişkin hakikatlere epistemolojik açıdan ulaşmanın mümkün olduğu kabulünü içermektedir. Bununla birlikte, ben epistemolojik olanın bahsi geçen ontolojik ve motivasyonel meselelerden tam olarak soyutlanamayacağını ve YDH yaklaşımının da bu gerçekle zorlanmadan uyum sağlayabileceğini iddia etmekteyim.

Keywords

Yeni Doğal Hukuk Kuramı, Doğal Hukuk, İnsan Hakları, Tanrı

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