PEOPLE'S UNIVERSITY - Human Rights, Class 1: Sources and Critique

October 30, 2018
7:00pm - 7:00pm

Sources and Critique

The concept of human rights as we commonly think of it develops out of a long tradition of Western philosophical thought and does not come without inherent tensions and, perhaps, outright contradictions. We will explore the philosophical sources of the strains of political thought that, together, produce our shared idea of human rights - as well as many of the consequences that could or have followed from them. Facebook Event.

Instructor Darin McGinnis is associate professor of philosophy at Wheeling Jesuit University. His past work has dealt with the possibilities of understanding diverse theories of historical interpretation from the 19th and 20th Centuries. He presents and publishes on topics including the sources of social critique as well as figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Ricoeur, and Pierre Klossowski.

The Ohio County Public Library's new eight-week People's University series, Human Rights, will explore the Sources, Critiques, Achievements, Extensions, Deviations, and Challenges of and in the development of what we collectively and, often generically, call "Human Rights." An impressive array of instructors from the fields of philosophy, history, sociology, law, and communications will cover different perspectives on the development of Human Rights from the Ancient Greeks, through the Enlightenment, American, and French Revolutions, to the present. Along the way, we will explore the achievements in Rights from the Magna Carta through the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well as the strong critique presented by Karl Marx and the deviations brought on by tyranny in all of its forms. In the modern context, we will look at 20th Century Postwar developments like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the idea of Economic Rights, consider the ongoing challenges of extending rights, from the American Civil Rights Movement, through Women's Suffrage, and LGBTQ Rights, while also comparing the American view of Rights to that of Europe and the rest of the world. Finally, we will consider the challenge of sentient non-humans, including Animal Rights and Artificial Intelligence.