the origins of totalitarianism book by hannah arendt

The UDHR’s claim concerning the inalienability of the rights follows the same approach and implies that the prescribed rights are independent of any higher authority. Such an abstract understanding of a human suggests that she herself-rather than God or natural hierarchies-should be the source of human law.

From a historical perspective, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789) was the first document to incorporate an abstract understanding of the human being. As she puts it, the entire project of universal human rights conceives of the human being as an entity with no higher authority above herself. Yet, a precise understanding of the right to have rights requires more closely examining Arendt’s diagnosis of the paradox of universal human rights.įirst: The Universal Declaration is based on an abstract conception of the human being, while there is no guarantee for human rights outside the political community.įor Arendt, the problematic nature of the rights of Man is deeply rooted in the rise of the nation’s sovereignty against the sovereignty of individuals. This paradox, according to her, can only be resolved by the recognition of the ‘right to have rights’ as a juridico-political precondition for the protection of other human rights. In her writing, Arendt claims the declaration itself embodies a contradiction: the declaration requires states to protect the ‘universal’ and ‘inalienable’ rights of all human beings, whereas the modern institution of the state is grounded on the principle of national and territorial sovereignty. This essay was later incorporated in Chapter 9 of The Origins of Totalitarianism and became known as one of the most influential critiques of the document.

& Mendoza-de Jesus, R., (2014), ‘On the Right to Have Rights: Human Rights Marx and Arendt’, The New Centennial Review, Vol.

Shortly after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, the English translation of Hannah Arendt’s essay was published under the title ‘The Rights of Man: What Are They?’ 1 The essay was first published in 1946 as a response to Hermann Broch’s project for an ‘International Bill of Rights’, and was republished both in German and English in 1949. From ‘Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt’.

The origins of totalitarianism book by hannah arendt