The main problem with the term “human rights” lies in the definition of the term “rights” and the basis for those rights.
The thinkers who developed this idea during the Age of Enlightenment attempted to ground the concept by stating that these rights are are “natural rights” granted by God to every person, because “every person is created in the image of God” (according to The Book of Genesis 1:27). For example, the preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
However, this text does not explain why these are “truths”, why they are “self-evident”, and why the rights are “unalienable”. According to the rules of rational discussion, a claim can should be grounded in evidence and logic and it is insufficient to simply state that it is “self evident”, because it may not be self-evident to everyone. Also, who is this “Creator”? And what about people who do not believe in a Creator?
Even the term “right” is itself complex and problematic – who has the authority to grant or revoke rights? And “by what right” do they do so?
Instead, the approach taken on this website by Wellism is to base everything on a system of values that support Wellbeing and a vision for an exemplary society.
The claim here is that a society in which people act according to these values, and in which social institutions are founded upon them, is a society that can come closer than any other to maximizing the potential for life and wellbeing for everyone. It is a society where people live in greater harmony, with fewer conflicts and less violence.
And why is that a good thing? Because wellbeing is the highest value we can adhere to, from which all other positive values are derived. The justification for this choice is explained in an article here [insert link].
When examining the list of human rights above, it becomes clear that they can, in fact, be derived from our system of values. [insert link to explanation]
Thus, we do not base our worldview on the concept of “rights”.