• University Module Series: Integrity & Ethics

• Module 2: Ethics and Universal Values

 

 

  This module is a resource for lecturers  

 

Core reading

 

This section provides a list of (mostly) open access materials that the lecturer could ask the students to read before taking a class based on this Module. The readings from the Stanford Encyclopedia come from philosophers with great expertise in these areas. The resources from the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs are written by both political scientists and philosophers who focus on the role of ethics and values in international affairs. The edited collection on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is mentioned above; it is the result of UNESCO's efforts to organize a group of leading intellectuals in the post-World War II period who reflected on the shared values that underlie human rights. The chapters mentioned highlight certain important statements, though the entire book is well worth reading. The book edited by former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a contemporary collection of essays which update the UDHR for today's world. The speech by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is his attempt to articulate universal values based on his experiences in the United Nations. The final core reading is a declaration by a group of contemporary religious leaders to articulate what they see as shared universal values.

 

Universal values

• The following entries in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
  • The Definition of Morality
  • Moral Particularism and Moral Generalism
  • Aristotle
  • Mencius
  • Habermas
• The following resources from the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs:
  • Norms, Morals and Ethics
  • Global Ethics Corner

 

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (including the historical background on this page)
• UNESCO. Human rights: comments and interpretations
  
  • Mahatma Gandhi, "Letter to the Director General of UNESCO", pp. 3-5
  • Jacques Maritain, "Philosophic examination of human rights", pp. 59-64
  • Chung Sho-Lo, "Human rights in the Chinese tradition", pp. 185-190
  • Humayan Kabir, "The rights of Man and the Islamic tradition", pp. 191-196
• Brown, Gordon, ed. (2016). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the 21 ^st Century. Open Book Publishers.
• Annan, Kofi. Speech on Universal Values
• Parliament of World Religions. Declaration toward a Global Ethic

 

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