Essay About The Western History of Human Rights

Objective: The objective of this article was to investigate the historicity of Human Rights and Human Dignity, with an emphasis on the development of religious natural law in the Roman Catholic and Apostolic periods. Theoretical Framework: Works by renowned authors in Law, Social Sciences and Humanities were consulted, namely Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Hans Kelsen and Rafael Diehl. Method: The methodology used in this research was based on a holistic and multidisciplinary analysis, that is, empirical and documentary research was essential for the hermeneutic and conceptual analysis of Human Rights and Human Dignity. Results and Discussion: It is clear that the conceptual notion of human being was, is and seems to be influenced by religious and rationalist natural law perspectives. Implications of the Research: The research seeks to awaken readers to the historicity of Human Rights and Human Dignity, notably regarding apparently extra-legal precepts of natural law. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the Academy, in the sense of, dialectically, providing a dialogue between classical and contemporary theories on Human Rights and Human Dignity.