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Full-Text Articles in Natural Law
The Great Power Origins Of Human Rights, Seth Mohney
The Great Power Origins Of Human Rights, Seth Mohney
Michigan Journal of International Law
For years, historians depicted the history of human rights as the inexorable triumph of universal norms. This account underestimates both the historical and contemporary uncertainty surrounding many international human rights. As even casual observers must note, the tale of human rights progress is not littered with beneficent heads of state persuaded to pursue progress by the moral charge of universal norms. Instead, this history’s primary scenes feature struggles among great powers, peoples, and movements advancing diverse interests. Recognizing the complexity of human rights history, a new generation of historians has emphasized that human rights progress is not preordained, but rather …
On Human Rights: The Use Of Human Right Precepts In U.S. History And The Right To An Effective Remedy In Domestic Courts, Jordan J. Paust
On Human Rights: The Use Of Human Right Precepts In U.S. History And The Right To An Effective Remedy In Domestic Courts, Jordan J. Paust
Michigan Journal of International Law
Early in the history of the United States, human rights, then often termed the "rights of man," were understood to be those natural, unalienable rights of all persons that no government on earth could deny - rights that are a part of law, whether written or unwritten, and that free and democratic governments are formed to further and to protect. As Alexander Hamilton recognized in 1775, "the sacred rights of mankind... are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature… and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power." Yet, as Hamilton must have known, …