This text discusses the conception developed by Rainer Forst of "right to justification", a basic philosophical principle of human rights present in the tradition of the Kantian idea of "pure practical reason". Forst aims to demonstrate that the recognition of the other, as a finite being and a being with needs, grounds before me a right to justifying reasons. The dignity of the other obliges me to act before him only according to such reasons, which he may comprehend and approve. The text also demonstrates some weak points of this principle of Forst that, above all, result in insoluble tensions between a theory of practical reason and a theory of recognition. Moreover, the thesis is defended that the "right to justification" must be considered a "right to recognition of Good" (Hegel) that the active person has in relation to others.
Right to justification; Rainer Forst; Human rights; Practical reason