For years now, the question of the universality of human rights has been the subject of controversial discussion between the various cultures. The present study examines whether ethical norms, e.g. human rights, can be justified universally or only particularly (for the values of a particular community). To achieve clarification, contributions are analysed from Protestantism (inter alia W. Herrmann, E. Troeltsch, K. Barth and T. Rendtorff) and from philosophy (the tradition of natural law, R. Alexy, O. Höffe). The author concludes that ethical norms are always grounded in a particular view of humanity - e.g. the christian view, but at the same time aim for a universal plausibility which is to be established in the discourse of world views.

Autorentext

Der Autor ist Privatdozent an der evangelisch-theologischen Fakultät der Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen und arbeitet derzeit als Pfarrer in der Église Protestante de Genève.