HISTORY 3XX3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Cyrus Cylinder, Abrahamic Religions, Asian Values
22 May 2017
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Rights (civil and political) emerge in the early-modern era c. 1500-1800. Limited tolerance of minorities or people who are different or foreign. First evidence of a ruler laying out law codes. Fi(cid:396)st ti(cid:373)e a (cid:396)ule(cid:396)"s su(cid:271)je(cid:272)ts (cid:449)e(cid:396)e (cid:272)o(cid:374)side(cid:396)ed to ha(cid:448)e (cid:396)ights (cid:396)athe(cid:396) tha(cid:374) just duties to the ruler. Progressive punishment (cid:862)e(cid:455)e fo(cid:396) a(cid:374) e(cid:455)e, a tooth fo(cid:396) a tooth(cid:863) But no equal citizenship or rule of law. Punishment depended on the social status of the offender. Also seen as the first human rights documents. Debate over whether this is human rights or not, but is still remarkable. Ethical treatment of all other living things is at the centre of buddhism: Buddha recommends following the eight fold path to avoid harming oneself and others. Buddha"s ai(cid:373) to (cid:396)ea(cid:272)h ni(cid:396)(cid:448)a(cid:374)a, a (cid:396)ealm in which all living things are free from pain and suffering. In theory, there is some sort of respect for all living things.
