Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

103
StMor 38 (2000) 103-125
MARTIN MCKEEVER C.Ss.R.
THE USE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DISCOURSE
AS A CATEGORY OF ETHICAL ARGUMENTATION
IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE 1
It would seem, prima facie, that there is something morally
wrong about driving a tank over a crowd of unarmed students
and their bicycles. Not everyone agrees, however, and so those of
us who hold this conviction are faced with the challenge of
rationally justifying and defending it. Even among those who
would condemn such an action as morally wrong, the reasons
for holding this conviction will probably be quite diverse. Some
will maintain that it is wrong because it is against the law of the
state, or against natural law, or against the law of God; others
will say that it is wrong because of the consequences for the
victims, their families and society in general; others again will
argue that such an action is wrong because of some special
intuitions or sentiments which it provokes in us; and the
intellectually lazy will undoubtedly insist that it is wrong
because it is wrong and there is nothing more to be said about
the matter!
To take up any of these positions, or others of a similar
kind, is of course to engage in ethics in that it is to attempt to
provide a generalized theoretical explanation of why a certain
action is to be considered morally right or wrong. A
comprehensive account of the myriad answers to the question as
to what makes an action morally right or wrong just would be
1
This article is an elaborated version of the inaugural lecture entitled “Il
dilemma etico-politico del discorso sui diritti umani nella cultura odierna”
delivered by the author at the Alphonsian Academy at the beginning of the
academic year 1998-99. While retaining most of the material used in the oral
original, this written version develops in particular the treatment of the
normative basis of human rights, hence the change in title.