Tanner Lecture on Human Values: The Personality of Experience and the Universality of Values
Radhika Coomaraswamy, Chairperson of the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission from 2003-2006 and UN Under Secretary General and as Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict from 2006 until her retirement in 2012
Abstract:
This lecture is divided into three parts. The first part argues that the concepts of humanism have a near universal quality and predate the Enlightenment. They are present in most cultures in indigenous form, lending credibility to the idea that humanism is a shared value across societies and civilizations. What I mean by humanism is a foregrounding of the intuition for social justice, equality and freedom, the core elements of human rights as well as a personal and social emphasis on compassion, the very basis of humanitarian action.
The second part sets out how humanism was particularly constructed by the Enlightenment project with its emphasis on laws and state structures and how it developed into modern traditions of human rights and humanitarian law especially within the United Nations system.
The third part will outline how in the post 9/11 world these traditions are being deeply challenged by intellectual critiques and world events that question the foundation of humanism as a universal value and human rights and humanitarianism as benign tools of the international community. It will also suggest ways to move forward.
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/mandate/radhika-coomaraswamy/
This lecture is divided into three parts. The first part argues that the concepts of humanism have a near universal quality and predate the Enlightenment. They are present in most cultures in indigenous form, lending credibility to the idea that humanism is a shared value across societies and civilizations. What I mean by humanism is a foregrounding of the intuition for social justice, equality and freedom, the core elements of human rights as well as a personal and social emphasis on compassion, the very basis of humanitarian action.
The second part sets out how humanism was particularly constructed by the Enlightenment project with its emphasis on laws and state structures and how it developed into modern traditions of human rights and humanitarian law especially within the United Nations system.
The third part will outline how in the post 9/11 world these traditions are being deeply challenged by intellectual critiques and world events that question the foundation of humanism as a universal value and human rights and humanitarianism as benign tools of the international community. It will also suggest ways to move forward.
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/mandate/radhika-coomaraswamy/
| Building: | Michigan League |
|---|---|
| Event Type: | Lecture / Discussion |
| Tags: | Philosophy |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Department of Philosophy |
