Self-Evident Truths? Human Rights and the Enlightenment
Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2010 aims to inject some historical knowledge into the current debate about human rights. The Enlightenment – the work of figures such as Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Kant, Paine, Bentham, Wollstonecraft – is often thought of as the defining moment for human rights. In George Orwell's 1984, Winston Smith explains that there is one phrase that it is impossible to translate into Newspeak, namely Jefferson's 1776 Declaration of Independence – a key Enlightenment text – which begins: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...'.
It seems we are no longer sure whether these truths are self-evident, nor quite what they might mean today. In 2006, the Wall Street Journal declared in relation to the Iraq War that: 'We are not fighting for George Bush or Wal-Mart alone, but also for the very notion of the Enlightenment.'.
As previous series of Oxford Amnesty Lectures have demonstrated, critics have often questioned the universality of human rights. This series will invite speakers to explore both the historical contexts from which rights emerged, and what an understanding of this history might mean for their relevance and, more importantly, their status as truths, today.
Lecturers, titles and dates
Lectures start at 5.30pm in the Hall, Taylor Institution Library, St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3NA
Tickets are on sale now.
James Tully, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Law, Indigenous Governance and Philosophy, University of Victoria.
Rethinking Human Rights and the Enlightenment: A View from the Twenty-First Century
Wednesday 10 February
Karma Nabulsi, Fellow in Politics, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford.
"That the General Will is Indestructible": From a Citizen of Geneva to the Citizens of Gaza
Wednesday 17 February
Adam Phillips, Psychotherapist and Writer
My Happiness: Right or Wrong?
Friday 26 February
Jonathan Israel, Professor of Modern European History, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton.
Basic Human Rights: the Enlightenment battle over the place of God and religion (1770-89)
Wednesday 3 March
Robin Blackburn, Professor of Sociology, Essex, and Editor of New Left Review.
From Natural Rights to General Liberty: Slavery, Emancipation and the Origins of Human Rights
Wednesday 10 March
Seyla Benhabib, Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Yale.
Cosmopolitanism since Kant: Claiming Rights Across Borders in a New Century
Wednesday 17 March
Jeremy Waldron, Professor of Law and Philosophy, New York School of Law.
Dignity, Defamation and Rights: What does a Well-Ordered Society Look Like?
Wednesday 12 May
Map showing venue
The Taylor may open either or both entrances on the night. It depends on the weather. So, you may be able to come in through the side entrance that is closed with wrought iron gates in the picture or through the brown double doors a bit further to the right.
View OAL at the Taylor Institution Library in a larger map
