The Invention Of Human Rights
When did the fight for human rights begin? According to Lynn Hunt, the 18th century. And why? One answer is rather unexpected: the rise of the novel.
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Show Notes
We all know Thomas Jefferson’s famous words immortalized in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” But when did the world start thinking about equality? Lynn Hunt, a distinguished research professor at UCLA, and author of the book “Inventing Human Rights,” says we haven’t always recognized basic human rights, and the very concept wasn’t spoken much about until the end of the 1700s.