Justice, Ethics and Law - critical evaluation of one of the three Essay

Justice, Ethics and Law - critical evaluation of one of the three topics below - Essay Example They insist that the idea of all people possessing certain rights by virtue of their humanity, even in the absence of legislation, is baseless and only loose talk.2 The ambiguity regarding the credibility of human rights dates back to the 18th century shortly after US Declaration of Independence in 1776, and thirteen years ahead, the French declaration of ‘the rights of man’. The US Declaration stated that every man is ‘endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights’ while the French Declaration asserted ‘men are born and remain free and equal in rights’. Not long afterwards, Jeremy Bentham, in his writings between 1791 and 1792,3 differed with the concept of human rights and called for its dismissal. Bentham claimed that the idea of human rights was borrowed from the Americans and was not practical. Even today, there is still widespread disagreement on issues relating to human rights. Most critics maintain that human rights lack coherence, cogency and legitimacy while some still point out grey areas such as social and economic rights.4 Amartya Sen5 proposes several guidelines for the elements of a human rights theory that adequately address the issue of legitimacy of human rights. I will consider these six guidelines as conclusions to arguments which he bases on one or more premises explained under each subheading. The paper will analyse each of these conclusions and their supporting premises and critically assess their legitimacy and any alternative suggestions. Sen claims that human rights are primarily ethical demands rather than legal commands.6 He makes this conclusion based on two premises. First, even though human rights have often resulted in legislation, it is considered a further fact, as opposed to a characteristic of human rights. Second, Sen states that human rights are agreements on certain ethical affirmations and the

The U.S. constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The U.S. constitution - Essay Example However it is important to consider that any amendments to the constitution should not be made too rapidly. For this reason any amendments to the constitution must follow a two stage process. First congress must propose the changes and then must be approved by the state legislatures. With all of this in consideration there have been changes to the U.S. constitution and as such one must consider what the overall function or role of the federal government was in the past and as it stands today. The interpretation of what the original framers of the U.S. Federal government intended has been a subject of debate for many different groups. However the overall outline of the federal government is laid out by the U.S. constitution. Originally, the role of the federal government very closely resembled the government as it stands today however it lacked the significant changes that come through the adoption of amendments. According to The United States National Archives (2011) the first major group amendments to the US Constitution is the incorporation of the Bill of Rights. The next significant changes to the United States constitution and according to the National Archives (2011) came in a series of gradual amendments which highlighted 26 additions/modifications pertaining to a variety of subjects. Some examples include the 22nd amendment which put term limits on the presidency or the17th amendment which dictated that there will be two senators from each state elected by the people and each senator shall have one vote. The next issue that will be discussed is how the structures of the government (Federalism, Presidential system, etc.) existed in the past and compare that with the function today. According to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum publication the current role of an American president/presidential system can be broken down into six roles (Chief of State, Chief Executive, Commander-In Chief, Chief Diplomat, Legislative Leader and Leader of His Po litical party). The interesting difference that can be drawn from these roles is that the original president (George Washington) had no political party. From this perspective this represents a fundamental difference between the original role of the President and the current role of the President. Moreover as the increasingly globalized economy the roles of the president as a chief diplomat would be greatly expanded insofar as this would require greater exposure to a larger number of nations. In the relationship of states with the Federal government there have been a number of significant changes such as the growth in the number of states (From the original thirteen to fifty). Moreover there has been an increasing interdependency between states facilitated through such additions as railways, federal highways, etc. The final issue that will be covered is the way in which the federal government guaranteed or didn’t guarantee civil rights and liberties then; and the way in which they guarantee or don't guarantee civil rights and liberties today. Probably the most significant mechanism that guarantees the rights of citizens would be the incorporation of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution which ultimately became known as the Bill of rights. According to the United States National Archives (2011), the reasoning behind why this would be needed is largely owing to the fact that the original constitution did not lay out specifically what the