Enlightenment Values and the UDHR

1. How does the UDHR reflect Enlightenment values?

Enlightenment values can be seen reflected in several areas of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. For example, an ideal proposed by Beccaria during the Enlightenment was the notion of "innocent until proven guilty," and this is reflected in Article 11 of the UDHR, which states, "Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty." Another Enlightenment value proposed by John Locke, which is the right to own property, is reflected in Article 17 of the UDHR, where it states, "Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others." John Locke also mentions that this right is included in the "natural rights" of Human beings, and in the same article of the UDHR it states "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property." Unlike documents of declaration drafted in the past, the UDHR explicitly states the rights in which an individual possesses clearly and concisely, and integrates various Enlightenment ideals to form various aspects of the UDHR.

2. How has the notion of “rights” evolved since the Age of Enlightenment? (use evidence from the UDHR to respond)

During the Age of Enlightenment, "rights" were often thought as vital aspects of life which a person must be granted not only for the promotion of their welfare, but to give them access to contributing to their nations for the greater good. The "rights" during the Age of Enlightenment might seem subtle to society today, because the notion of "rights" has evolved into something broader, and has surpassed a boundery which the Enlightenment didn't even think to approach. For example, "rights" which people talk about today can pertain to "homosexual rights", which is a territory the Enlightenment was far from. In Article 16 of the UDHR, it states that any Man or Woman can marry whom they wish to marry regardless of race, age, nationality and religion. However, other than that, I personally believe the notion of rights hasn't evovled much since the Enlightenment, because "rights" will always be "rights", which is what an individual is granted to do. The UDHR substantially reflects the rights proposed during the Enlightenment, for example, Articles 10-11 in the UDHR states the rights for how a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. the only thing that has evolved is society's perspective of the world; it has become broader, and we learn of even more issues which we think can be resolved through the grant of "rights", like my earlier example of homosexual rights, but there will indeed be stagnation in the process. For example, to what extent should the right of "Freedom of Speech" be enforced? And several other questions which might halt society's vociferous demands for rights. Another example of how the UDHR reiterates the rights during the Age of Enlightenment can be seen in Article 17, which is the right to property.

Another way which the notion of "rights" might have evolved is the fact that society (especially the UN) somewhat fully understands what the word "rights" mean to them, and is far more clear about what kind rights they want and believe as a necessity, which allows them to clearly and comprehensively articulate what exactly they are proposing. For example, in Article 2, its declaration although broad, is still very detailed, "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.