You may rather visit a dentist's office than think about questions of jurisprudence and such, but human rights and legal philosophy have gone together like hand and glove since the beginning. Compare, for example, what's known as "natural law theory" with "legal positivism."  Natural law theory essentially holds that there are real and deducible universal principles of justice upon which laws should be based (principles like universal rights, for instance; compare with the "natural rights" of Locke). In legal positivism, on the other hand, at least in some interpretations, the law literally creates the right (compare with Bentham's contention that natural rights are nonsense). In this positivist sense, proper rights are simply one fundamental component of the social contract we agree upon when we live together, and are hardly absolute and inalienable. In still other interpretations, positivism is simply the act of embodying the abstract--but nonetheless real--principles of justice and rights in concrete and actionable written laws. Thus, the "right to freedom" is an abstract principle, and the US Constitution's First Amendment guaranteeing the right to free speech would be a positivist application of that right. In this light, Antonio Enrique Pérez Luño speaks of "the two grand dimensions that integrate the general notion of human rights, that is, the "iusnaturalist" (natural law) demand for their foundation, and the techniques of positivisation and protection that allow their exercise" (Derechos Humanos, Estado de Derecho y Constitución; Tecnos, Madrid, 2003). Obviously, depending on which of the above views we take, our philosophy of law itself will greatly impact (as well as be influenced by) our philosophy of human rights. Human rights philosophers don't need to become experts in torts or contract litigation. But a basic understanding of some of the general theories of law is almost indispensable, especially at the point where human rights philosophy is put into practice. The resources on this page are divided into the following sections: General legal philosophy and history Legal documents (constitutions, rights declarations, etc.) Case studies General legal philosophy links Note: The following sources lead to offsite web pages, meaning that to return to the RPF, you will need to use your back button. Bookmark us in your favorites just in case! General legal philosophy and history Articles on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "The Philosophy of Law" "Natural Law" "Legal Positivism" "Legal Pragmatism" "Social Contract Theory" Article on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "The Nature of Law" "Legal Rights" "Constitutionalism" "Interpretivist Theories of Law" "Pure Theory of Law" History of Law: "The Spirit of Legal History" (essay by Kenneth Pennington, Syracuse) "Democracy in the Ancient World" at d@dalos Medieval Legal History (including links to Ancient and Roman legal history) English Legal History American Legal History Separation of Powers Legal History links (maintained by Bernard Hibbitts, Pittsburgh) Foundations of Modern Law Pennington's course outline at Syracuse University, with several links MegaLaw.com legal history links Law, Philosophy, and the Humanities Cal State Long Beach Syllabus, with some interesting articles Legal Documents, Declarations, etc. Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union Code of Hammurabi US Declaration of Independence Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen International Human Rights Instruments (OHCHR) Magna Carta National Constitutions of the World Universal Declaration of Human Rights Case Studies 50 Pivotal US Supreme Court Cases African Studies: Human Rights and Governance BBC World Service: Comparing UDHR articles with case studies Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation European Court of Human Rights Famous Trials Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review Spanish Tribunal Constitucional (in Spanish) US Supreme Court Cases (search engine) General Legal Philosophy Links (also see the RPF Rights Education page for human rights law schools and programs) Duhaime's Legal Dictionary Human Rights Law Links Filosfía y Derecho.com (philosophy & law) (Their "biblioteca-e" has links to online works in various languages) Legal Dictionary Researching International Human Rights Law, Berkeley Social Science Information Gateway: Human Rights Law