Inventing Human Rights
You will write a formal essay of 1,250-1,500 words of text, (not including title pages, works cited, etc.).
The essay is worth up to 10 course points.
This is a formal writing assignment. Unlike the discussions and website summaries, you will submit it privately to me. I do, of course, encourage you to discuss these issues in module discussions as you are reading the assigned chapters of Lynn Hunt’s book Inventing Human Rights: A History.
Your essay will be based on Hunt’s book Inventing Human Rights. It must show strong evidence in the body of the text that you have read and thought about the book.
You may of course consult other sources. Be sure to cite any other materials which you use in a comprehensive bibliography. I expect that your work will be a polished essay, not a first draft, reflecting the time you will have for analysis.
The concept of universal human rights has been key to much of the political conflict in the world since the 18th century. The concept of human rights was fundamental to both the American Declaration of Indepence of 1776 and Bill of Rights of 1791 and the French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Lynn Hunt asks the question of why human rights conceived of as natural, equal and universal appeared for the first time at the end of the 18th century? How does Hunt answer her own question?
Hunt raises the point that human rights are claimed to be “self-evident.” But if this were the case, why must they be declared? How does she address this paradox?
More than a century and a half passed between the 18th century declarations and the adoption of the Universal Declaration in 1948. How does Hunt explain this long break?
Do you accept her thesis that the concept of human rights developed only in the 18th century in Europe and North America? Why or why not?
In her last sentences Hunt claims that “…you know the meaning of human rights because you feel distressed when they are violated.” Do you think this is true in contemporary America in which government torture and extra-judicial executions by drone may be condoned?
Be sure to include specific examples and quotes from the text to illustrate and support your points in this essay.
