ANCHORING HUMAN RIGHTS: Practice Without Foundations

Many philosophers writing about human rights have a fixation with foundationalism: what are the foundations of human rights? Can human rights exist, and flourish, without sound moral foundations? Contrary to the dominant view in the literature I argue that these are the wrong questions to ask, and that human rights are better off without foundations. The problem is that the language of “foundations” is misguided, and misleading, the wrong metaphor to use in relation to the human rights project. The idea of “anchoring” offers a better metaphor, suggesting a more flexible and dynamic practice, while still providing a justification for universal human rights.