In the understanding of Habermas, "right" in the phrase "human rights" is a legal concept, where human rights are legal rights, i.e., legal norms declared in acts of foundations of the State or announced conventions of international law and/or State constitutions. By conceiving of rights in this way and by treating human rights in a threefold approach (placing them between morals, law and politics), he presents different theoretical definitions of human rights. This paper presents a systematic exposition of these definitions, and focuses on the different problems that motivated Habermas to change and expand his conceptions of human rights.
Jürgen Habermas; Human rights; Law; Morals; Politics