THE METAPHYSICAL UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN PERSON AS THE FOUNDATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Abstract

This article examines the profound correlation between the metaphysical understanding of the human person and the grounds of human rights. It explains how concepts of human nature, being, and consciousness form the philosophical underpinning of human rights and asks what it actually means to be human a query that transcends biological existence to ask about moral agency, personhood, and dignity. The study considers major philosophical positions, from classical and Christian philosophers including Plotinus, Boethius, and Aquinas, to modern positions such as Descartes’ dualism and Kant’s rational autonomy. Further, the study analyzes African metaphysical philosophies with a focus on the community and fluidity of personhood. The research argues that the metaphysical conception of the human personon inherent worth and rational self-determination substantiates natural rights theologies and is a necessary condition for both the expression and justification of human rights. Through a discussion of various schools of philosophy, the work reveals how the evolving metaphysical views affect the articulation, justification, and emergence of human rights, with implications for current discourses of ethics, law, dignity, and freedom.