Intellectual Origins Some elements of human rights in Ancient Greek philosophy 13th century Just War Doctrine restricted acceptable use of warfare Pre Enlightenment right of monarchs superseded individual rights Natural rights movement of the 17th century asserted that there was a law above human laws Locke life liberty property o These rights come either from God or social contract In 19th century natural rights approach fell out of favor for being too vague Utilitarianism policies should bring greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people Marxism began to provide some different conceptions of how rights should be defined 20th Century Universalism Developments often spurred by specific events Wilson following WWI right to self determination of peoples Universal Declaration of Human Rights came shortly after Holocaust Human rights are applicable to everyone by virtue of being human Very much in the natural rights tradition though a bit more secular now relies on tradition success of Western states for support Many non western cultural practices are fine but only if individuals choose to participate in them have the right to choose a different lifestyle But some cultural practices unequivocally violate human rights Relativism Relativism rights only meaningful in the social cultural economic security context in which they are created Western human rights assume that everyone lives in a western style society We can t ignore the extent to which social context shapes behavior and values Groups might have rights of their own especially if their survival is at stake The universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted December 10 1948 Not legally binding Establishes a set of common principles to be the basis for more specific human rights treaties which would be binding Gives rights to all individuals including personal security freedom from slavery equal personhood everywhere 1st amendment rights UN Human Core Rights Treaties Assembly Resolutions Drafted by UN Economic and Social Council and passed as General But only Security Council Resolutions are legally binding These conventions are only binding for states that sign and ratify them Even those that ratify may attack reservations They create new UN committees to monitor compliance with the agreements Optional protocols add a few more rights and clarifications
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