Solidarystyczna krytyka przyrodzonych praw człowieka – w poszukiwaniu innej podstawy ochrony praw jednostki

The article discusses the problem of justification of protection of human beings’ individual rights within the solidaristic framework. Solidarists refuted the concepts of existence of innate human rights, which made the foundation for protection of a certain range of freedom of the individual, acknowledging it to be pure metaphysics that bore no relation to the reality. Only the rules that regulated interpersonal relations, existing solely and exclusively within social life, could be referred to as law. Therefore there did not exist the category of innate rights – connected with the very essence of humanity and anterior to human community. According to Solidarists, the justification of protection of a certain range of human beings’ individual freedom in their relations with others was an objective social progress, visible in the transition from mechanical into organic solidarity. The basis of protection of the individual’s rights was to be the social conviction, of the objective character, about the necessity of guaranteeing each man a certain scope of protection in order for him to perform his social function.