Derechos humanos y bien supremo:: Sobre el estatus problemático del valor de la vida en arendt

The article examines Hannah Arendt's elaboration of human rights, specifically the value of life, taking as its starting point her critique of cosmopolitanism and her analysis of totalitarianism. Arendt argues that universal right must be preceded by what she calls the “right to have rights,” through which the importance of belonging to a political community is emphasized. The distinction between “bare life” (zoè) and “qualified life” (bíos) is essential to understand this argumentative step, especially in view of the difference that will be raised between care and protection. The protection of life, as an eminently modern phenomenon, becomes a form of domination that restricts humanity to its mere biological existence.