Justification of human rights through Martha C. Nussbaum's conception of human

To justify human rights we need an epistemologically right conception of human. This human conception might provide a guiding light on discussions on human rights, with its concepts and challenges, and in getting solutions to problems of humanity. Considering that Martha C. Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach involves a convenient human conception, we tried to demonstrate the necessity and possibility of justifying human rights based upon a human conception through Nussbaum's Approach. In the first part, after referring various meanings attributed to human rights in the history of the concept, we addressed the necessity and possibility of justification of human rights. In this context, several arguments put forward for justification of human rights are introduced and criticized. We also discussed the meaning of justification of human rights as ethical principles, and introduced an alternative method for justification of human rights, namely Kuçuradi's method of epistemological justification of ethical norms. In the second part, the relationship between the idea of human rights and the concept of human is pointed out. In this context, firstly some well-known human conceptions are introduced and criticized. Then the conception of human which is grounded on ontological premises and delivered by Takiyettin Mengüşoğlu is reviewed. Following that, The Human Rights Approach which emphasizes the value of human and human values and derived from Mengüşoğlu's philosophical anthropology by Ioanna Kuçuradi is presented in detail. In the third part, Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach and her human conception which is the ground of the approach are discussed. Besides the beginning and philosophical foundation of this approach, its weak and strong aspects are presented. Furthermore, its potential, as a theory of human rights, is indicated. In the conclusion, a general evaluation of Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach in terms of its contributions to the discourse on human rights issues is carried out.