Summary: Universal Human Rights In Theory And Practice

In the earliest Western legal systems, the existence of human rights is derived from secular logic, rationality and humanitarianism. It is found in the seventeenth century book of Hugo Grotius - Der Jure Belli ac Pacis . The book became famous for codifying mortality without any need of laws and divinity but based on reason and humanitarianism. Since then, human rights have become an increasingly powerful tool used in the fight against arbitrary oppression, intolerance and unjust mob rule. We can also refer to Jack Donnelly, a political theorist who specializes in human rights and is the author of “Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice”. He emphasized that “the source of human rights is man’s moral nature, and that internationally recognized

As an atheistic theory it was conceived in 17th century but as a theistic pragmatic theory it was introduced indirectly around 200 B.C. at the time of Vedas and Upanisads in India. The latter half of the nineteenth century witnessed Hindu Renaissance pioneered by Brahm Samaê of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Arya Samaê of Dayanand Saraswati, finally blossoming into Vedantic Hinduism of Vivekananda. Vedantic Hinduism stresses the importance of service to the weak and the needy as its practical aspect. The salient theme is that, “society is the greatest where the highest truths become practical”. Humanism has undergone significant development at various levels and forms in the West as well as in the East. But there is a basic difference between Western Humanism and Eastern Humanism. While the former is atheistic in content because of the conception of God as the Creator but the later is the Vedantic Humanism which is not atheistic

The use of perspective and drawing from nature were reflected in arts, and arts gradually became more diverse rather than only religious. Famous Italian artists in that period include Uccello, who was an early user of perspective in his paintings, and Leonardo da Vinci who was known as “Renaissance man” for his wide range of interest and knowledge of art. Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) was another Renaissance man for his wide-ranging abilities and interest regarding non-religious ethics and a view of citizenship and the architecture of cities which were very secular and modern. His idea was that the city must provide the best possible setting for its citizens, and the architect of the city must serve the needs of man with dignity. Playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare developed a new kind of theatre that was more secular, more realistic, and more interesting in human psychology and emotions. The invention of printing press at that time was an effective means of dissemination of ideas. Aphra Behn, the first English woman to earn her living by writing, wrote critically about religion and slavery