Yasmin Castañeda
Dr. Loskot
PHIL 201
October 29th, 2012
Reflective Essay on Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Every single human being on this planet has rights. These rights are given to us through birth, and the day I was asked, what my human rights were, I found myself speechless. I did not know how to answer the question, which at the time sounded so easy. I forgot about the question that had me so puzzled, and just brushed it off, ironically six month later I get an assignment on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After reading this historic document, I realized how important human rights are. I believe most people take human rights for granted, we know they exist, but we don’t even know what they are
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The Declaration is an optimal model of the mutual relations of the country and the personality. The rights and the freedoms of the citizens, and also their duties are an important social and political institution. The Declaration unites all the listed above elements into a legal international control of the defense of human rights becoming an essential socio-political document ever signed for the protection of the world.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” These opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights express a concept of man which underpins the framework of human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration and the two international covenants of Human Rights. Western political traditions is a concept that it derives from, is in harmony with moral and social teachings to be found in many other traditions and patterns of belief.
References
Feldman, Jean-Philippe. "Hayek's Critique Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights". Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, Volume 9, Issue 4 (December 1999): 1145-6396.
Glendon, Mary Ann (2002). A world made new: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Random House. ISBN
“Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they achieved strong international support following the Holocaust and World War II. To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 and invited states to sign and ratify it”
On September 28, 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt delivered a speech titled "The Struggle for Human Rights" in Paris, France. In this speech, Eleanor Roosevelt places emphasis on the issue of preservation of human freedom, especially the political and moral significance we give it. Roosevelt’s speech thoroughly analyzes the perceptions of democratic and totalitarian countries. She especially targeted the Soviet Union, which criticized the Declaration’s importance of individual rights over collective rights. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone should have the privilege of human rights without distinction as to race, gender, language or religion. She believes that this is a very pivotal subject matter because the issue of human freedom is decisive in the settlement of outstanding political contrasts and for the eventual fate of the United Nations.
Through the past of the years, the concept of freedom and security has been reshaped with the purpose of benefit human being. The Declaration of Human Rights written in 1948 is an example of the variation in the human privileges. If we go back to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and citizen in 1789 there is a clear evidence of the way human rights have been redirected and adapted to the new society. For example, the Declaration of 1789 encompasses a total of 17 articles talking about the basic rights of the man as a representative of all the members of the social body. These 17 regulations addresses topics such as the right of liberty, expression, equality, and justice by the law.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, categories all human beings as free. Article one identify all human beings as born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article two states, Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust,
As per the 1948 Universal announcement of human rights, all individuals regardless of their background are all born equal before the law. This declaration made by the powerful nations and signed by all nations strong and weak that belong to the United Nations reflects the thoughts of many earlier philosophers to include the 16th & 17th Century Martin Luther, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke. However, each philosopher -based on their times and experiences gave a different value to how men use their freedom and equality in presence of the other in a society, and in relation to political authority. As determinant of his freedom to act and think, the three writings focused on the will of man, the promise that shapes the social contract, and the
One of the main reasons why human rights have been put in place is to protect the public life and public space of every individual being. One fundamental characteristic of human rights is that they are equal rights; they are aimed at providing protection to every person in an equal way. These rights have been entrenched through laws that are passed by states and international conventions. Human rights laws have evolved over time, and have been shaped by several factors, including philosophical theories in the past. This paper looks at the theories of two philosophers, Emmanuel Kant and John Stuart Mills, and how their teachings can be used to explain the sources of human rights. Kant’s moral philosophy is very direct in its
In “The Struggle for the Rights of Man,” a speech delivered to the United Nations in Paris, Eleanor Roosevelt persuades her audience that the United Nations should create a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She effectively uses a logical flow of ideas, examples, good word choice, and literary devices to achieve her goal.
today we call them human rights" (McShea 34). The issue of whether or not to
The origen and the content of human rights, as they are presented by the Declaration of 1948, belong to a concrete cultural and political tradition, that is, the Western,liberal, individualistic and democratic tradition. But such
Human rights are rights innate to every single individual, whatever our nationality, where you live, sex, national or ethnic birthplace, color of skin, religion, dialect/language, and many more. We are all similarly qualified for our human rights without segregation. These rights are altogether interrelated, associated and resolute. Widespread human rights are regularly communicated and ensured by law, in the types of treaties, standard global law, general standards and different wellsprings of international. International human rights law sets down commitments of Governments to act in certain routes or to cease from specific acts, keeping in mind the end goal to advance and secure human rights and central flexibilities of people or
The doctrine of human rights were created to protect every single human regardless of race, gender, sex, nationality, sexual orientation and other differences. It is based on human dignity and the belief that no one has the right to take this away from another human being. The doctrine states that every ‘man’ has inalienable rights of equality, but is this true? Are human rights universal? Whether human rights are universal has been debated for decades. There have been individuals and even countries that oppose the idea that human rights are for everybody. This argument shall be investigated in this essay, by: exploring definitions and history on human rights, debating on whether it is universal while providing examples and background
Human rights are universal rights that we are entitled to. It is a freedom that is guaranteed based on the principle of respect for an individual. As mentioned in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights are a “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all member of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world” (Kent, page 80). When asked what our rights are, we tend to get different answers and meanings. Some people recite the rights that they know; but let’s face it, not everyone knows all of the rights that they truly have. The rights we have consist of many things such as the right of having an adequate food supply. The right to
Human rights can be summarized as the activities and freedoms that all human beings are entitled to enjoy and only by virtue of their humanity. These conditions are generally guaranteed in the constitution of the land. They are widely felt in the area as they are divided and not limited to political, social economic and cultural rights. Some of the main principles of human rights include the fact that they are inherent, inalienable and indivisible as well. In this relation, human rights can never be taken away from an individual whereby the enjoyment of one right should not infringe the enjoyment of other. They must all be respected and maintained.
Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most prominent and influential woman, and person, in general, in the beginning of the 20th century. She redefined the role of the First Lady of the United States by being involved in Franklin Roosevelt’s political career and often giving press conferences and being involved in social issues. In 1945 President Harry Truman appointed Roosevelt to be a delegate to the United Nations where she became the chair of the U.N.’s Human Rights Commision and contributed to the writing of the Declaration of Human Rights. Roosevelt delivers the speech “On Adopting the Declaration of Human Rights” to members of the United Nations General Assembly, specifically those who do not want to adopt the declaration, to persuade them to accept the document. Roosevelt uses a blunt tone to discuss the serious subject the Declaration addresses, the need for a worldwide standard of human rights to prevent the repetition of the atrocities that occurred in World War II.