论美国的人权文化相对主义

American Cultural Relativism on Human Rights

在西方语境中,人权文化相对主义基本上被视为一种否定人权普遍性的有害观念。美国虽然不遗余力在全世界推行“普遍人权”,但其对国际人权公约的抵制态度只能说明其自身实行的也是一种人权的文化相对主义。美国对其批准的国际人权公约提出大量旨在防止国际人权公约国内适用的保留、谅解和声明,这样的做法不仅与其对普遍人权的说辞相矛盾,而且在西方世界中也是一个异数。美国虽然对外反对人权文化相对主义,但又总是以文化相对主义的立场为自身抵制国际人权公约的行为进行辩护。美国的例外主义思想让其对国际人权标准实行赤裸裸的双重标准,这既给美国国内的人权保障带来了严重的“灯下黑”现象,也让整个世界付出了惨重的代价。

Cultural relativism on human rights generally has been regarded as a negative concept aiming at denying the universality of human rights in the context of the West.The resistant attitude towards international conventions on human rights on the part of the United States demonstrates that the United States itself also practices cultural relativism on human rights,although it spares no effort to promote“universal human rights”in international society.The large amount of reservations,understandings and declarations attached to United States ratifications with a view to resisting domestic application of international human rights conventions apparently conflicts with what the United States consistently preaches about universal human rights,and such practices are extremely exceptional even among Western countries.While United States strongly opposes cultural relativism in international fora,it never minds taking a cultural relativism stance when there is a need for it to defend its position on resisting international human rights conventions.It is the American exceptionalism that makes the United States take it for granted to practice double standards on international human rights standards,which not only makes the United States lose sight of its own human rights problems,but also let the whole world pay a heavy price for it.