The Paradoxes of Human Rights

An analysis of the contradictions of human rights through Robert Meister, Costas Douzinas, and Hannah Arendt

Abstract

This paper examines mainstream human rights discourse and its failure in being upheld within society. The paper is analyzed through prominent political philosophers like Robert Meister, Costas Douzinas, and Hannah Arendt but with a greater emphasis on Meister's phenomena of Transitional Justice. This paper is divided into four sections where each political thinker provides their skepticism on human rights and ends off with its broader implication through current movements like Black Lives Matter.