The human and the humans of the human rights. Animals, Pacha Mama and high technology

Abstract

Based on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, the article explores the extension of the semantics of human rights to non-human individuals in modern society. Drawing on judgments and legal texts, the extension of these rights to animals, flora and fauna, and technology is analyzed. The article concludes that the main issue lies not in the definition of the human being for the human rights, but rather in knowing what is the meaning of the human being in the particular communication established by the legal system. Neither body, nor mind nor communication are the definitive home of the human being. He can be in any of them, or in all three at the same time, depending on the observation.