Person, capabilities and Human Rights. Two contemporary trends.

Abstract

Contemporary theories of justice may be categorized in mainly political and natural justice theories. The former are generally conceived as an instance of the Kantian philosophical tradition, whereas the latter are rooted in classical-philosophy theories. Each of them is furthermore grounded on a different conception of the person: "political", or "ontological". This paper aims to bring them in rapport, taking in special account Martha Nussbaum's and Sergio Cotta's justice theories. The paper argues that the universal respect of individuals' rights -which is at the core of Nussbaum's theory- finds better support in Cotta's onto-phenomenological approach to justice, rather than in Rawls'political liberalism.