Jörn Reinhardt

Human Rights, Human Nature, and the Feasibility Issue

Arguments from human nature are not only used to justify fundamental rights; human nature is also an instance of critical evaluation as to whether an idea of rights is feasible or not. The different ambitions that are connected with the very idea of rights, especially in the modern natural right tradition, can often be traced back to divergent anthropological assumptions on human dispositions and conduct. In his contribution “Human Rights, Human Nature, and the Feasibility Issue” Jorn Reinhardt explores how the feasibility requirement applies to fundamental rights. Even though the idea of a “natural right” (in its many variations) and post-1945 human rights are two highly distinct phenomena, a central premise in both discourses is that a concept of rights must be realistic (or rather realizable). Reinhardt explores to what extent arguments from human nature are helpful to deal with the feasibility issue.

Human Rights and Human Nature: Introduction

Recourse to the concept of human nature has always played a prominent role in the justification and defense of human rights. The idea has its roots in ancient philosophy and in religious traditions and also extends to early modern natural rights thinking. “Human nature”, as a concept, is still widely used in contemporary philosophical and juridical human rights discourse as a way of justifying the universal and egalitarian validity of the claim of human rights. The chapter provides a short introduction to approaches, arguments, problems and challenges as well as an overview of the essays of the volume.

Verfassungsrechtliche Probleme bei der Umsetzung des Europäischen Fiskalvertrages

Der Beitrag beleuchtet die formellen und materiellen Anforderungen des Grundgesetzes an die Umsetzung des Europaischen Fiskalvertrags, insbesondere die Anforderungen, die an das verfassungsrechtliche Zustimmungserfordernis zu stellen sind, die Reichweite der absoluten Anderungsgrenzen aus Art. 79 Abs. 3 GG, sowie die parlamentarischen Kontrollmoglichkeiten, die das BVerfG in seinem Urteil vom 19. 6. 2012 im Verfahren ESM/Euro-Plus-Pakt erneut gestarkt hat.