Influência do pensamento kantiano na construção dos direitos humanos

Abstract

Kant lived in a time of great instability in Europe, where wars were constant and states possessed absolute powers over subjects. At the same time, a new stream of thought, uplifting of human reason, sought the emancipation of the individual from the state. In this context, the natural law of the rationalist background, defended by the Enlightenment philosophes, came as an aegis for the benefit of the individual against the abuses of power of the rulers, which allowed the limitation of this same power. Kant, an Enlightenment enthusiast and thinker, made an invaluable contribution to the defense of these rights in view of their originality in transposing natural law in the direction of a moral right as well as in their concept of human dignity. The human rights were born, therefore, from the struggles for freedom, in a society founded on the concept of the "divine right" of the king; and the French Revolution was the political milestone that made it possible to guarantee these rights. However, this was only a first moment, since human rights expanded over the decades, being classified in several dimensions, according to the new advances. To understand the real influence of Kantian thought on the construction of human rights, a bibliographical, descriptive and documentary research was sought; as for the first one, in articles, dissertations and books, mainly, of the commentators of Kant, as well as in the own works of this one; and the second, especially in the two historical human rights frameworks: the Declaration of Man and Citizen's Rights of 1789, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. In these documents, an attempt was made to indicate where the influence of Kant was, but also where there was none. The differences between Kant and other enlighteners, such as Locke and Rousseau, were also pointed out. It was observed that Kant influenced the Declaration of 1789, with some restrictions, as well as a great amount of modern philosophers; provided the idea of human dignity, the basis of human rights in the post World War II; and through his work Perpetual Peace contributed to international law and the search for peace.