Entre a vida e o humano: direitos humanos no pensamento social

Abstract

Human rights is a topic of significant relevance across various domains, including scientific, social, political, and ethical spheres. Considering that the guarantee of the right to life is fundamental for the existence of all other rights, and that human rights specifically pertain to human beings, this study chose to focus on human rights with particular emphasis on these two aspects. The theoretical framework was grounded in Social Representation Theory, complemented by psychological constructs such as infra-humanization and dehumanization, as well as an exploratory approach incorporating Moral Foundations Theory. The primary objective of this research was to describe and analyze the logic underlying social thought regarding the human being and human life, as well as the implications of these views for support of human rights. Methodologically, the study employed interviews, questionnaires, a sociodemographic survey, and the Word Association Technique. Data analyses included complementary indices, similarity analysis, prototypical analysis, correspondence factorial analysis, specificity analysis, thematic-categorical content analysis, and basic descriptive statistics. Among the findings, it is noteworthy that social representations of human center around the nature versus culture dichotomy and are embodied in the concept of personhood. Conceptions of human were categorized into moral, reasoning, sociability, learning, feeling, language, and biology domains. Meanwhile, social representations of life were predominantly positive, emphasizing life as existence rather than merely a biological cycle. Life conceptions were organized into categories such as activity, opposition to death, feeling, interaction, reasoning, biology, physicochemical properties, and existential aspects. When investigating support for human rights presented in abstract terms, the data indicated strong overall support. Regarding the justification for support or rejection of human rights when contextualized with the ingroup or outgroup, the moral foundations most frequently employed were Justice/Reciprocity and Purity/Sanctity