Do We Need a Definition of "Human" To Defend Human Rights?

Richard Rorty vs. Paul Bloom on Empathy and Moral Education

The concept of human rights presupposes that we can distinguish between the human and the non-human. Yet, human rights violations often occur precisely because one group has first dehumanized another. People don’t see themselves as perpetrating an indignity against other human beings as such; rather, they see themselves as defending the principle of hum…