Abstract
In contrast to any other human right, the right to life seems to be a paradox. It seems to be impossible to violate it. Before the holder of the right is killed, there is no violation of the right because the holder is still alive. After the act of killing, there is no violation of the right because there is nobody whose right could be violated. The holder of the right does not exist anymore and can therefore not be in a state of deprivation of personhood.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The classical Ontology is the traditional philosophical doctrine of the most general structures of what is. That which is is the being. Ontology assumes the possibility of an objective view of the world and its structures. Nevertheless, what we consider to be the most general structures of the being, are in fact the structures of our language and our thinking. Modern language-philosophy has inherited the legacy of medieval Ontology. Nevertheless, important ontological distinctions are still relevant today.
Reading Recommendations
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb: see chapter 5.
Robespierre, Maximilien de: On property. Speech of 24 April 1793https://rbzpr.tumblr.com/post/143313847630/robespierre-on-property-24-april-1793
Tiedemann, Paul: Is there a Human Right to life? In Jahrbuch für Recht und Ethik / Annual Review of Law and Ethics 20 (2012), 345
Tomuschat, Christian/Lagrange, Evelyne/Oeter, Stefan (eds): The Right to Life. Leiden/Boston 2010
UN Human Rights Committee: General Comment No. 36 (2018) on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life, – CCPR//C/GC/36 –https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CCPR_C_GC_36_8785_E.pdf
Case Law
BVerfG jud. of 25/02/1975 – 1 BvF 1,2,3,4,5,6/74 –, BVerfGE 39, 1 [42] (Abortion I)
BVerfG jud. of15/02/2006 – 1 BvR 357/05, BVerfGE 115, 118 (Abortion II)
ECtHR, jud. of 07/07/1989, – 1/1989/161/217 –, Soering v UK, HUDOC
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tiedemann, P. (2020). The Right to Life. In: Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights. Springer Textbooks in Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42262-2_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42262-2_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42261-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42262-2
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)