Human Rights

Claims that persons have on society simply due to their being human. Grounded in the concept of human dignity, no individual or institution can legitimately fail to recognize and respect these claims or rights, which makes them absolute rights. According to Catholic social teaching, human rights are claims to the minimum conditions necessary for life in community and which allow one to fulfill one’s moral responsibility in life, e.g., the right to health care.

Although some rights imply duties on the part of the right-holder, all rights imply duties on the part of others. In this way, human rights are closely linked to the concept of justice. Without some notion of justice, there is neither a basis for deciding which claims or rights must be respected nor to determine which are of the utmost importance. Further, since human rights are claims that persons have on society, the concept of human rights is also closely linked to the concept of the common good.

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