MacPherson goes on to point out how different seventeenth century theorists -- Leveller, Hobbes, and Locke, to name a few -- included these ideas in their philosophies. MacPherson further illustrates that a main similarity in these philosophies was the belief that human society was a series of market relations (266). At this point, these theories have "failed" liberal-democratic theory (MacPherson 270) because it has made impossible a valid theory of obligation. As such, MacPherson poses the question whether liberal-democratic theory and Hobbsian can be realigned and made to not be mutually exclusive (277). In relation to Western human rights, these theories recognize the certain aspects of freedom (unsurprising, as we have seen from Halcoff's piece) 'create' a man, in a sense. As such, it might be argued that these seventeenth century philosophers were some of the first to recognize, implicitly, a Western notion of human rights.
In their article, Bunch & Frost explain the usefulness of positing "women's rights" as "women's human rights." This approach came from the situation where "women's rights" -- labeled as such -- consistently took a back seat to human rights as the result of male-dominated human-rights organizations (Bunch & Frost). As such, the framing of "women's rights" as "human rights" forces human-rights organizations, such as the UN, to address, in their symposiums and policies on human rights, the rights of all women (Bunch & Frost).
Bunch & Frost first describe the history of human rights, and how it consistently gave more importance to male-centered rights than women's rights. Moreover, as women have traditionally been relegated to the...
The period of reconstruction was seen as a failure. WEB Dubois in his "Black Reconstruction in America" (1935) "The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery." Eric Foner, in his assertion regarding the black perspective, "Reconstruction must be judged failure… it was a noble flawed experiment, the first attempt to introduce a genuine inter-racial democracy in the United States" (255-256). Other
The Crusades The Crusades would shape Islamic attitudes toward the West for centuries, so much so that it was noted that George Bush should never have used the term with reference to the War on Terror because of the bad feelings involved. In the eleventh century, much of the Moslem world was under siege from the Seljuk Turks. The Moslems were in control of the Holy Lands, the seat of Christianity,
The National Park Service Web site also does not mention the role of Native Americans during the colonial period of history or the role of African slaves. The omission of the latter is striking, given Yorktown was an important Virginia tobacco port (Twin Cities Public Television 2004). Not mentioning the impact of colonialism on Native American culture is a significant omission for a park called Colonial National Historical Park. Just
Unfortunately many aspects of modern American society threaten individual liberties. For example, the disparity between the rich and the poor in American society impacts the level of freedom enjoyed by certain segments of the population. The "freedom" to pay workers a pittance in order to increase profits in a large corporation is therefore not really a "freedom" at all. Therefore, it is up to the government and to the
Freedom of Speech In 1776, the United States Constitution was signed to protect the freedoms of every American and to solidify the rights that so many were currently fighting for. It was the government that implemented ways for everyone to have equal rights to express what ever they deemed appropriate without the fear of there being repercussions for their actions. That is no longer the case. The government now, instead of
History has shown that freedom is not inherently a part of society, rather it is something fought hard for and won. When countries fight for freedom, when people rise for liberty, they do so because they feel they must. Whether it is a strict government, a deranged dictator, or a highly religious society, people have seen their freedoms limited to varying degrees. The United States has been built upon the
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