What Is "Human?"

What Makes People “Human”?

   This is a bit of a “deep” question, but recently we have had a series of events here on campus at UTT, one being the BACCHUS Area 6 Spring Conference and the other a group of students who were supporting various Human Rights Bills.

   This question then of  “what are human rights” has been prevalent on my mind, so I've decided to make a small blog about it here.

   When somebody says “human rights” we might immediately think here in the West of apart of our Constitution…

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

   Something else to think about – in many other countries, concepts of what is or is not human are different. While the concept is very, very broad, Confucianism and later doctrines/philosophies that evolved from it maintain that to be a true human, you must love others and actively attempt to be engaged with others, either as family or as apart of a group.

   Some people don’t consider a person even real until they are old enough to understand the importance of raising children.

   One benefit of the “college experience” is that we can expose ourselves to new ideas, concepts, and we can test our theories with others in a safe space.

   What would you say is a “human right,” exactly? Is it apart of our culture or is it personal? These are obviously big questions, however I am glad UT Tyler allows our students the venue space to talk about these things at conferences, activity events, and more.