Preview

Are human rights innate and universal?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1694 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Are human rights innate and universal?
Are human rights innate and universal?
Living Human Rights

Post WWII on the 10 December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was espoused by the General Assembly of the United Nations in order to agree on the notion that such atrocities that occurred throughout the Great War and the Second World War would not ever be reciprocated. The document that was drawn up in less than two years by the UN and Western states, and although ambitious it would guarantee a premise for life and living for every individual all over the world. The UDHR are founded on nobility, equality and reverence, and are said to be aimed at all cultures and religions within the West and East of the globe. However there is great discrepancy regarding the justification and practicality of human rights all over the world due to political, economic and cultural differences and limitations. Universal means that ‘something’ affects, applies or is completed by everyone all over the world – there is no distinctive bias shown and equal policies are applied. Innate, in relation to human rights, means that people are given natural rights purely based on the fact that he/she is human and alive. Therefore, are human rights universal and innate or is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations an idealistic revolution that creates Western ideologies in order to govern states in their entirety?

Unfortunately, nothing can be universal in terms of treatment, beliefs and perceptions, since all values are interpreted and restricted by culture and religion. Within our modern world at present there is no universally founded culture that every person is entitled to follow or support, and therefore stemming from this main argument; no rights can be universal. Human rights have been discussed and acknowledged from the beginning of time itself, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all on in Christ Jesus”

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The main purpose of the thirty articles from “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, created on December 10, 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly, is to promote a deep respect to the human rights and fundamental freedoms of each individual, belonging to whatever “race, color, sex, language, religion…” (UDHR, Article 2) or any other status, and create a universal guaranty that it will enhance the recognition of these human rights and freedoms; it represented “the hope for a new future” (More, n.d.). This statement in all is very comforting to the society, but how fully, if at all, is this declaration being accomplished and enforced?…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In our definition of human rights, we use an approach more closely related to the Declaration of the Rights of Man. In the sense, that we define it more as they did in terms of equality and fairness as stated by the UN: "We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible." (United Nations, 2018). When we begin discussing universal human rights, the debates become more difficult to put to rest. When it comes to universal human rights we adopt more of a style as they used in the Declaration of Independence. It inevitably becomes a discussion more on the structure and legality of our systems. Rather than discussing equalities for individuals, you must discuss issues for humanity as a whole. This is why I do believe that we use these Declarations as a foundation for our modern-day definition of human rights, but have adopted different aspects from each…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Natural Rights

    • 4743 Words
    • 19 Pages

    The idea of human rights[->12] is also closely related to that of natural rights; some recognize no difference between the two and regard both as labels for the same thing, while others choose to keep the terms separate to eliminate association with some features traditionally associated with natural rights.[3] Natural rights, in particular, are considered beyond the authority of any government or international body[->13] to dismiss. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights[->14] is an important legal instrument[->15] enshrining one conception of natural rights into international soft law[->16]. Natural rights were traditionally viewed as exclusively negative rights[->17],[4] whereas human rights also comprise positive rights.[5]…

    • 4743 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    universal human right

    • 608 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I see those sources reflected in our contemporary culture in a way that those sources frame and form our modern government today, and we, as people, are entitled to enjoy and live the rights of life, liberty, and property, equality, justice, etc., that is supported based on reason and consider it as legal rights within the bound of national or international law, however, there are still some people who live within the confines of the natural laws, but still posed threats to other people's liberties, that's why a government was formed to guarantee people's right or human "inalienable" rights, but the problem is, the abstract concept of what constitutes universal human rights exactly and how can these rights be respected by all. Who can ensure that those human rights or universal human right be properly guarded, enforced, and protected? It seems that those sources reflected…

    • 608 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is a list of all of basic human rights including the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, a fair trial and education. Since this document was agreed on by the members of the United Nations in 1948 there have been several more important conventions or agreements on human rights, including:…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human rights are rights that all human beings are entitled to without regard to race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, language or any other status. We are all entitled to these right without discrimination. These rights may be interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. The United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies the rights that all people are entitled to without discrimination. These rights are life, liberty and security of person; freedom from slavery and servitude; freedom from torture, or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment; equality before the law; not being subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; freedom of movement and residence; nationality; the right to marriage and to found a family; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; peaceful assembly and association; work, health and education.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Hass (2008), the second charter of the United Nations after peace promotions is human rights. ( Vandersluis and Yerous in Kegley 2007, p.220) state that “ the universalist claim, that all human beings have the same moral status; to accept universal human rights the moral demand to respect the life, integrity, well-being and flourishing of all human beings”. This was the general idea when the declaration of human rights was created. Violence, racial and gender discrimination, child abuse, religion and immigration laws are now governed by these laws. This has encouraged peace and development across the globe.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.” Source: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/…

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Whether human rights are universal or culturally relative has been highly debated for decades. Increasingly, there are have been a large number of individuals and societies who oppose the notion that all human rights are universal. To protect the universe and those living among it from tragedies such as genocide, war, and domestic violence, it is critical that all nations abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human rights are very crucial in our society today. It is one of the fundamental laws that govern life. Without it, the very basic social structure of developed countries will crumble, causing economic and social unrest. In less developed countries however, the violations of human rights may be a daily occurrence. In the west however, human rights are strongly advocated and are enforced by the law itself, unlike other developed parts of the world which only provide the very basic human rights to its citizens.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human rights are understood as fundamental rights in which a person is inherently entitled to, simply because she or he is a human being. These rights are a modern a secular version of ’natural’ rights, which are believed under a religious perspective. Human rights are therefore universal, fundamental and absolute. The are universal in the sense that they apply to all humans everywhere in the world, regardless of nationality, ethnicity or social background etc. the are fundamental in that they can only be denied or violated under law, but the human being’s entitlement to them cannot be removed completely. Finally they are absolute in the sense that there are no compromises, it applies to all. If they were not universal, fundamental or absolute then they could be open to interpretation. The movement developed in the aftermath of WWII and the atrocities of the Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the first global human rights treaty that was formulated. The main driving force behind the formation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the Second World War, which in it course saw some of the worst human atrocities being committed on a global scale. The Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on the 10th of December 1948.…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The supporter of moral universalism, Thomson [2], argued that Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by United Nation can be read as assuming a kind of moral universalism. For example, referring to UDHR, everybody has the right to life. So murder, wounding, and false imprisonment are immoral and illegal. Therefore UDHR proves that there are some universal moral values which apply to the whole world.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is effective to an extent with regards to promoting human rights which all people are entitled to and enforeability. Human rights are known as a series of the basic rights and freedoms incorporated into a body of international law in which states accept it as a prerequisite for people’s enjoyment of a life based on human dignity. Human rights are said to follow four conditions that are in being Universal (applying to everyone), indivisible (equally important), inherent (belong to all everyone on the basis of being human) and inalienable (can’t be taken away). Human rights are achievable through the following of United Nation’s UDHR in which the UDHR creates a standard for member states to adhere to and ratify into their domestic law to ensure the basic rights of individuals are upheld and respected.…

    • 996 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document that was written by the United Nations in 1948 spelling out the rights that each human should be entitled to. The declaration initially describes general human rights in the preamble then describes in each specific right in thirty additional articles.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays