The Universal Declaration’s Problematic Rights Justification

Abstract

In this paper I aim to critically analyse the underlying moral justification
of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of the Rights
of Mother Earth. The aim of the critique is to highlight some of the
problematic areas that underpin the Declaration’s rights and in doing
so to point to ways that one can begin to rectify the problems with
them and the Universal Declaration itself. The paper aims to critically
examine the moral justification for the Universal Declaration’s rights,
which is found in the works of Thomas Berry and his commentators
who use the notion of ‘subjectivity’ to justify the existence of such
rights. The paper critically examines such a notion and argues that it
is not strong enough to do the work required of it, and that it is too
problematic to serve as a justification for the Universal Declaration’s
rights, as the ethical framework it provides is too cryptic and indeterminate, and does not provide us with an adequate action- and lawguiding framework upon which to establish the Universal Declaration
and its rights.