H. L. A. Hart’s Foundations of Right Vis-a-Vis the African Experience

Abstract

This piece studies the foundations of rights in Hart’s philosophy of Jurisprudence. Hart makes a case that if there are any moral rights at all, then there is at least one natural right, that is, the equal right of all peoples to be free. This shows the place of freedom in articulating the concept of rights. With this in mind, the situation in Africa, precisely in Nigeria is studied. From the understanding there from, this piece asserts that if Africans conceive right as both universalistic and individualistic, it will help to solve some of the conceptual problems surrounding the implementation of human rights in Africa.

Keywords: Right, Africa, Universalism, Individualism, Communalism, H. L. Hart.