Lynn Hunt And Keith Michael Baker: An Analysis

Today, human rights are considered the cornerstone of our society. This concept defines the international and domestic policy of developed Western countries, and the rest of the world is encouraged to follow this example. The existence and importance of human rights have been recognized relatively recently, in the XVII century, and it was a complexed process. In their articles, Lynn Hunt and Keith Michael Baker analyze the origins and peculiarities of this process, explaining how Western society was developing the concept of human rights.

In her article, Hunt (2007) draws the reader’s attention to several paradoxes associated with the phenomenon of human rights. According to all definitions, every person is born with certain rights regardless

It has always been about the rights of a certain community. When the French finally accepted the concept of universal human rights, it concerned only white Catholic males. It took more time to grant these rights to the traditionally oppressed social groups: non-Catholics, Jews, Blacks, and women (Hunt, 2007). It was not likely for French society to forget instantly its xenophobic and misogynistic traditions. Such changes always need time.

Also, the very definition of human rights lacked clarity, and this fact is confirmed by the both authors. Hunt (2007) cites a range of historical documents which show how differently people perceived the idea of privileges granted by birth. A lot of people mistook them for property rights and the freedom of religion. Until the French Revolution, there was no sound understanding of what the words “natural rights” actually mean (Hunt,

Hunt (2007) thoughtfully explains them in the last part of her article. If she had put these paragraphs at the beginning, a reader would have had a better understanding of the social context of the Enlightenment. Baker (1994), on the contrast, starts his story of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen with an introduction so long a reader gets lost in it. He describes political and philosophical debates which surrounded this document, and his examples indicate how tense was the transition from the Old Regime. Like Hunt, Baker (1994) states that the French Revolution was both the moment of triumph for the supporters of human rights and the starting point of the Terror. Therefore, both authors recognize revolution as a phenomenon which is inextricably linked with the concept of natural rights of any human