Respect for others: because a lack of respect for someone fails to appreciate their individuality and essential dignity. To be forced to do something against our will demeans the human spirit. For example:įreedom: because the human will is an important part of human dignity. Many other values can be derived from these two fundamental ones and can help to define more precisely how in practice people and societies should co-exist. It is recognised almost universally that state power cannot be unlimited or arbitrary it needs to be limited at least to the extent that all individuals within its jurisdiction can live with certain minimum requirements for human dignity. That is why human rights receive support from every culture in the world, every civilised government and every major religion. These two beliefs, or values, are really all that is required to subscribe to the idea of human rights, and these beliefs are hardly controversial. We should not, and cannot, discriminate between them. Human rights can be understood as defining those basic standards which are necessary for a life of dignity and their universality is derived from the fact that in this respect, at least, all humans are equal. Two of the key values that lie at the core of the idea of human rights are human dignity and equality. I am convinced - that savagery begets only savagery. I regard the death penalty as a savage and immoral institution that determines the moral and legal foundations of a society. If I can make these claims, then so can everyone else as well. Human rights simply extend this understanding on an individual level to every human being on the planet. Without human rights we cannot achieve our full potential. Every reader is probably in agreement with it because we all recognise, in our own cases, that there are certain aspects of our life, our being, that ought to be inviolable and that no one else ought to be able to infringe, because they are essential to our being, who we are and what we are they are essential to our humanity and our human dignity. Put like that, the claim doesn't need backing up. What my right to life really means is that no-one ought to take my life away from me it would be wrong to do so. Why should that claim not need any particular behaviour to back it up? Why shouldn't we require human beings to deserve their rights?Ī human rights claim is ultimately a moral claim, and rests on moral values. Human rights are inherent to all human beings as a birthright. Their right to life is dependent on only one thing: that they are human.Īn acceptance of human rights means accepting that everyone is entitled to make these claims: I have these rights, no matter what you say or do, because I am a human being, just like you. Someone's right to life is not dependent on someone else promising not to kill him or her: their life may be, but their right to life is not. They are not dependent on promises or guarantees by another party. Human rights, however, are super claims with a difference. These are all things that people can be entitled to expect, given the promises or guarantees that have been undertaken by another party. Citizens have a right to elect a president, if the constitution of their country guarantees it, and a child has a right to be taken to the zoo, if her parents have promised that they will take her. I have a right to the goods in my shopping basket if I have paid for them. When we call anything a person’s right, we mean that he has a valid claim on society to protect him in the possession of it, either by the force of law, or by that of education and opinion.Ī right is a claim that we are justified in making.
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