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Page 1: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction

Mathias RisseProfessor of Philosophy and Public Policy

Spring 2012

Page 2: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

1948 December 10

Page 3: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 4: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Something profoundly new

Page 5: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Universal Values

Rights

Institutional Responsibility

Page 6: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Page 7: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Page 8: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 9: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Page 10: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

World War II (1939-45)

Page 11: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

National Socialism

Page 12: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Holocaust

Page 13: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 14: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Atomic Bomb

Page 15: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

The Cold War

Page 16: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Decolonization

Page 17: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

The Middle East

Page 18: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 19: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

1948 December 10

Page 20: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Page 21: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Something profoundly new

Page 22: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Universal Values

Rights

Institutional Responsibility

Page 23: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

PREAMBLEWhereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable

rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

(….)

Page 24: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

• Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Page 25: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Also addresses individuals

Page 26: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Article 1.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.

Article 2.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, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Page 27: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Article 4.No one shall be held in slavery or servitude;

slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Page 28: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 29: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Differentiations

Article 5.No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Page 30: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 31: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Acknowledging the terror

Page 32: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Article 10.Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and

public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Page 33: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 34: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Article 13.(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the

borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to

return to his country.

Article 14.(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum

from persecution. (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising

from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Page 35: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

SS St. Louis in Havana

Page 36: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Palestinian Refugees

Page 37: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Article 16.(1) Men and women of full age, without any

limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

Page 38: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 39: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.
Page 40: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Article 18.Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this

right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right

includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Page 41: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Article 24.Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable

limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for

the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Page 42: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Working Class Movement

Page 43: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Human Rights Skepticism • Other languages of evaluation and emancipation? (Marxism,

dependency theory, justice)

• Window dressing/empty talk, or real impact?

• 19th century “standards of civilization” in disguise?

• Does it make sense to say that human beings have rights in virtue of being human?

• And what would it even mean to have “rights” at all?

Page 44: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

“Philosophy is thinking in slow motion”

Page 45: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

“Philosophy is thinking in slow motion”

Here: think carefully about what human rights are, why people would have them, whether there could

be a universal language of value

required by intellectual honesty, and to make them intellectually secure

Page 46: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Goals of this Course• To make philosophical sense of human rights discourse –

approaching it from a skeptical angle

• acquire ability to engage with normative questions that arise in a globalizing world

• Structure

• Philosophical in methodology, interspersed with political explorations

Political philosophy, politically embedded

Page 47: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Note…

• Philosophical part will start in Lecture 4

Page 48: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Why take the course? • “human rights literacy” – human rights as offering the grand

moral vision of our age

• Highly suitable for the general education curriculum/ ethical reasoning requirement

• Introduction to ethical reasoning, with an emphasis on how to think about universal demands

• Will also give you tools/skills for further studies (especially law school)

• Will improve your writing

Page 49: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Requirements (ER11) • Three papers (due within about a week), plus final exam

• Questions/topics provided in advance (including for the exam) – but will assume presence in lectures

• Lectures will be posted, but with a delay

• Lectures will largely be – lectures, but also try to make room for discussion, given the subject matter

• Sections will be arranged

Page 50: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

Requirements (Govt E- 1040) • Undergraduate version: same requirements as for Harvard

undergraduates – participation will be virtual, but depending on numbers we will try to hold a section as well

• will be arranged

• Graduate credit: same, but first two papers will be more demanding

• One-page assignment to get a sense of who you are

Page 51: Human Rights – A Philosophical Introduction Mathias Risse Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy Spring 2012.

For next time:

• Read Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• do assigned readings for Jan 25


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