David Stamos: The Modern Myth of Human Rights
24 Apr, 2009
Professor David Stamos, Department of Philosophy, York University
Adopted from descripton on Dr. Stamos’ websitehttp://www.arts.yorku.ca/phil/faculty/stamos.html
This talk is based on a paper authored by Dr. Stamos in which he argues that the widespread modern belief in universal human rights is a mass delusion, a modern myth. The argument is based on the origin of universal human rights in the European Enlightenment and the fact that the cultural foundation of the myth is the rise of democracy and capitalism combined with Christian creationism and a belief in species essentialism. Dr. Stamos argues that modern secular/philosophical attempts at defending the reality of universal human rights come to a full stop once the basic facts of evolutionary history are taken into account.