Humanitarianism and Universalism essays

Humanitarianism and Universalism essays In the article Women and Cultural Universals, Martha Nussbaum discusses about basic human capabilities that should be granted to every human being regardless of their sex, race, or religion. However, a problem arises with reaching such basic rights since every nation has their own definition of this matter. In order for these basic human capabilities to be accepted throughout the world, nations ought to reach a generalized consensus on what rights an average human should have, rights that ought to transcend cultural traditions and religious barriers. All in all, the point of Nussbaums basic human capabilities list is to put forward something that people from many different traditions, with many different fuller conceptions of good, can agree on, as the necessary basis for pursuing their good life (462). There is a similarity of this ideology with Mary Kaldors global humanitarian approach. Even though both ideologies attempt to stabilize certain situations in troubled nations, th ey have different approaches. Nussbaum believes that her list of basic human capabilities should be implemented into every nation, especially those nations that are currently violating the rights of their inhabitants. By having a uniform rule throughout the world, nations will lose their specific identity in the world stage. Part of a nations strength and power comes from the richness of old traditions that truly symbolize that nation and their inhabitants. Kaldors global humanitarian approach calls for nations to unite under a common cause to solve a problem. These nations would still maintain their identity, but they would have to accept a basic human capabilities list and form their own views based on that list. Some readers may consider that Nussbaums list will not lead to universalism, but a generalized idea of a global humanitarian approach. This humanitarian app...