Exploring the Right to Life: Confucian Ethics of War and Peace in the Context of UDHR and ICCPR

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted in 1948, has had a profound impact on global discourse and has provided a framework for societies and governments worldwide. It has influenced legislation, policies, and international human rights instruments like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR). Recent research highlights the importance of approaching human rights from an international human rights law perspective. This perspective has sparked debates on the relationship between human rights and Confucianism, particularly concerning the right to life and the ethics of war and peace.
While traditional scholars often viewed early Confucians as just war theorists with lenient criteria for justified violence, recent scholarship challenges this notion. Kurtis Hagen, for instance, argues that Confucians only support offensive military action in situations where actual warfare and its horrors would not occur, making military interventions just hypothetical scenarios. Hagen suggests that this relatively pacifistic stance in Confucianism is not naive but rational. Consequently, contemporary Confucians should endorse it.
In this presentation, I further develop this distinct approach by focusing on the discussion of human rights, specifically the right to life as articulated in the UDHR and ICCPR. Taking a non-orthodox perspective, I advocate for a consequential approach to international legal human rights. By highlighting the importance of international legal human rights and examining their consequences, I aim to explore the relevance of the right to life in East Asia and address potential conflicts with Confucianism.