Hannah Arendt's critique of human rights and cosmopolitanism

The First World War, which is described by Hannah Arendt as a catastrophe that did not end with the depressing silence that followed, led the collapse of three empires and the establishment of new nation-states, which caused the millions of minorities, refugees, and stateless peoples to lose even their inalienable rights and Arendt establishes her human rights critique on this loss. According to Arendt the fact that those who are deprived of the protection of any political body are also deprived of their human rights indicates a more fundamental right, "the right to have rights". In the first chapter of this study Arendt's critique of human rights is discussed. The relationship between the sovereignty principle of the nation- state and the recognition/protection of human rights and the importance of being a member of the political community on the realization of rights are the main points in Arendt's criticism. In the second chapter, Habermas's approach to cosmopolitanism and its potential to create answers to the problems that Arendt has identified regarding the realization of human rights is discussed. Habermas expresses the need to develop an understanding of citizenship based on constitutional principles rather than a citizenship based on ethnic affiliations. The other element of his cosmopolitanism approach is the acceptance of human rights as a constitution covering all states, assured by supranational organizations. Keywords: human rights, nation-state, citizen, the right to have rights, cosmopolitanis