From ufadaameh@yahoo.com Wed Jun 5 19:46:25 2002 Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2002 15:11:45 -0700 (PDT) From: ameh ejeh To: Kieth Douglas Cc: Peter Madsen Subject: Draft of Narrative on Rights... RIGHTS The Webster dictionary defines rights as "that which a person has just claim to; power, priviledge, etc. that belongs to a person by law, nature or tradion (eg.the right to free speech). Right is not a concrete material or corporeal object that we can quantify or measure physically. It is a philosphical concept which exists in the mind but lived out in concrete practical experinces among human beings and in relations to other created things in the universe. The concpet of right is multifaceted. Some of these are natural rights, human rights, civil rights as well as animal rights which is a relatively more recent concept. For more on the concept of rights refer to these: sonsofliberty.org/sonsofliberty/soldoc16.html homepages.msn.com/WindowsWay/memphis_n/ civil_rights_definition_and_historical_documents.htm Natural Rights: These are inherent, universal and even rights that belong to human beings simply by virtue of their being human beings, as distinct from rights due to human laws. Natural rights include the right to live and sustain/protect life, the right to think and follow ones conscience and the right to own property. Human Rights: These are rights which affirm and uphold the dignity and worth of the human person. Human rights include natural rights as fundamental rights which human beings have and to which they have a just claim. Some examples of human rights include freedom of speech, freedom of worship and of a peaceful assembly. Civil Rights: In broad terms, civil rights refer to those rights which belong to a person by virtue of being a citizen of a particular country. These rights are therefore protected by the laws of that country. These include the right to own property, to sue in court, to use public facilities that are provided for public use, etc. (Civil Rights include human rights as well since they pertain to human beings) Animal Rights: The concpet of animal rights came out of the realization that animals are not just there for the sake of human beings but exist in their rights and that their dignity must be respected and preserved. The concept of animal rights is sometimes discussed within a wider issue of environmental ethics. With this brief explanation, we shall move on to examine each of rights in a greater detail. NATURAL RIGHTS Is there such a thing as a natural right? This is a question that has generated a lot of debate down throught the centuries. The notion of natural rights is tied to natural law (the concept of natural law dates back to the ancient Greek Philosophers who held that some laws are the underlaying basis of all other laws because they inhere in nature, part of the endowment of nature itself). It is in the same spirit that Thomas Jeffeson, in the Declaration of Independence stated that "We hold these truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalianable Rights, that among these are Life, liberty and the pursiut of Happiness...". These rights are natural because they issue from the very nature of humankind itself. Natural rights are necessary and indispensable for humankind to reach its goal, to attain the full potential for which he'she was made in the first place. This point is further exlpained in Eyler Robert Coates' "Commentary on Today's Social and Political Issues Based on the Writings of Thomas Jefferson". See. www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7970/jefpco08.htm However, the fact that the concept of naural rights are linked with natural law and dates back to Greeks does not mean that everybody agres with it. So we sometimes wonder. Is there such a thing as a natural right? Those who argue against the existence of natural rights contend that: --a) The idea that natural rights are "self-evident" may be going to far, jumping, so to say, from what is to what ought to be (David Hume warned against this). This so called self-evident rights may not be that self evident; b) Secondly, the notion of "natural" makes recourse to a higher authority who endowed nautre with these rights. This higher authority obviously refers to a divine authority (Jefferson alludes to this clearely when he said "endowed by their Creator"). But, then, this opens a new can of worms, replacing one unsolved mystery with another one. Because the debate will them begin to include or to shift to whether such a divine being )call it God, exists at all. It is a lively philosphical debate and for more information on this I refer you to these two sites: www.spectacle.org/0400/natural.html - http:/fp.bio.utk.edu/wisdom/Dialogues/natural_rights.htm HUMAN RIGHTS The concept of human rights issue greatly from natural rights since a lot of human rights are believed to be derieved from human nature itself. Although human rights enjoy a wide acceptance as a principle, they, like natural rights, have generated a lot of debate down through the centuries. Much of the debate on natural rights are not whether they should be there or not. The contention comes in the area of what is the nature of human rights, what are the ends and how exactly are these to be exercised or lived out in practical day to day terms. As Professor Emeritus Burns H. Weston puts it succintly, the issues at stake are "whether human rights are to be viewed as divine, moral, or legal entitlements; whether they are to be validated by intuition, culture, custom, social contract theory, principles of distributive justice or as prequisites for happiness; whether they are to be understood as irrevocable or partially revocable; whether they are to be broad or limited and content...". Weston identifies some of the common characteristics for human rights --the shaping and sharing of values by indivivuals and groups; pertaining to fundamental and essential goods; reflective of a wide range of values; the fact that there are limitations to human rights (my right to swing my arms stops at your nose); and finally, that human rights are general and universal. For more information on this I refere you to: www.uiowa.edu/~uichr/features/eb/weston2.shtml CIVIL RIGHTS Civil riights are rights due to human beings by virtue of being human beings (hence the human rights dimension), by tradition or custom, but more so because these human being belong to a particular State or cicil society. Civil rights ensure equal protection and opportunities under the law. Civil rights are therefore guaranteed and protected by the laws of a particular State (For example, the United States Bill of Rights and the 13th and 14th Ammendments by Acts of Congress). These include right to Liberty, Equality and Justice. The need for civil rights is directly linked with the realization of the fact of equality of all human beings irrespective of race, color, sex, cultural or religious backgroud. Although Thomas Jefferson's famous Declaration of Independence stated that "We hold this truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...", it was a culture which still discriminated against certain groups in the society. (Groups such as Women and Blacks ---for then, slavery was still considered legally permissible and women were not allowed to vote). These led to the civil rights movements of the 1960s in which key players like, President Lyden B. Johnson, FBI Director, J. Edger Hoover and Martin Luther King, Jr. featured prominently. ANIMAL RIGHTS Animal rights are sometimes discussed within a wider forumm of environmental ethics which advocates the consevation of the earth's resources for a healthy environment and ecological wellness. Within this context, the issue of future generations and animals come into focus. For more information on animal welfare and animal rights see: www.countryside-alliance.org/edu/edu2-4.htm The philosophical basis for the concept of animal rights is that animals do not just exist to satisfy human ends but have a reason to be in their own right. Therefore some ethical considerations should be given them to protect them from exploitation and abuse. But, like other aspects of rights, the issue of animal rights is a hotly contested issue. On the proposing side are those who insist that animals be granted rights and moral status like humans while on the opposing side are those who basically believe that animals are there to serve humankind's ends and should have no rights or moral status of their own outside of those of their owners. These points for and against the question of animal rights are stated in these reading materials: samvak.tripod.com/animal.html www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/ archives/animalrights.htm www.animalsvoice.com/PAGES/rights.html SELF-STUDY & QUESTIONS 1)What is your take on whether or not there is such a thing as natural rights? 2a) How can human rights considerations be assessed in relation to the detainees from the war on terror at Guantaname Bay? [This question could be saved for GI #6 on "Security and Terrorism"] 2b) How can the question of "right to privacy" be assessed in the wave of the revision of privacy act to give law enforcement agents greater access to personal information about citizens? [This question could be saved for GI #6 on "Security and Terrorism"] 3)Do a personal research and identify the role of each of these major players in the issue of Civil Rights: i) President Lyden B. Johnson, ii) FBI Director, J. Edger Hoover, and iii)Civil Rights Activist, Martin Luther King, Jr. 4a) Should animals have rights of their own? 4b)How can we assess animal rights in the face of the fact animals are used for food, clothing, transportation and other basic needs? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com