Human Rights Discourse in Modern Africa: A Comparative Religious Ethical Perspective

Contemporary discourse on human rights in Africa constitutes an important and controversial aspect of the general discourse on African society and culture. I begin by examining the idea of human rights as a moral category and discuss its pertinence to African cultural and political life. I then anal...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ilesanmi, Simeon O. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 1995
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 1995, Volume: 23, Issue: 2, Pages: 293-322
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:Contemporary discourse on human rights in Africa constitutes an important and controversial aspect of the general discourse on African society and culture. I begin by examining the idea of human rights as a moral category and discuss its pertinence to African cultural and political life. I then analyze and discuss the two dominant positions in the current debate, namely, the communitarian and the individualist theses. I argue that both positions are inadequate because they dissociate dimensions of life that need to be interpreted in their interplay. Drawing upon samples of traditional African religious and ethical traditions, I propose a personalist theory of human rights that affirms the intrinsic individuality and sociality of the human status.
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics