Declarations of Freedom and Human Dignity - Softcover

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All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

We are living in an era of enlightenment, but it is not yet an enlightened era! The philosopher Immanuel Kant made that claim in 1784. It is still true. The five declarations contained in this volume proclaim the freedom, equality, and worth of all persons. They remind us of the ideals we have yet to achieve in politics, in business, and in society.

What is Enlightenment? (Immanuel Kant) Declaration of Independence (US) Bill of Rights (US) Declaration of the Rights of Man (France) Statute of religious Freedom (Virginia) Declaration of Sentiments (Seneca Falls) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN) Declaration of the Rights of the Child (US) Rio Declaration on the Environment (UN)

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The Rio Declaration aimed to establish a new and equitable global partnership on environment and development through cooperation among States, key sectors of society, and individuals. It was hoped that the Declaration would serve as a basis for future negotiation of an Earth Charter that could be approved on the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations in 1995. The Declaration consisted of the following 27 principles: 1. Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. 2. States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. 3. The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations. 4. In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it. 5. All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world. 6. The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least developed and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special priority. International actions in the field of environment and development should also address the interests and needs of all countries. 7. States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect, and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation, States have common but differentiated responsibilities that they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the technologies and financial resources they command . . .