How important are cultural values in the formation of human rights Essay

How important are cultural values in the formation of human rights - Essay Example Although members of the Western culture have developed worldwide organizations addressing human rights issues, there are vast differences between the way that Western values address the nature of the individual in comparison to values of other cultures. Through aspects of work, feminism, and punishment, there is a great variety of value administration towards addressing the rights of members of a society. The nature of human rights as they are practiced within a region are determined by the values of the relevant culture that has control over the ideological philosophies that inform public policy. Value Diversity What is culture? When speaking of culture, it is necessary to understand that any discussion of culture will include an â€Å"implied other†, thus defining one group as different from another (Storey 2006: 1). The truth about the concept of culture, from some perspectives, is that it divides people much more definitely than is actually appropriate. Being human allows for the same motivations for behaviors, the needs for life not changing from one regional setting to the next. Human beings need to be warm enough, cool enough, satisfy their hungers, and satisfy their bodily needs. Everything that is done is an extension of basic human needs and the way in which the environment lends support to those fulfillments. How life is framed for supporting these needs is how culture is defined. If one looks at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, for purposes of understanding the nature of human need fulfillment, one can see how all people share the same focused needs, that it is just the semantics of how those needs are approached that change from one region to the next (see Appendix 1). Motivations emerge from the bottom of the pyramid up, each level of need reflected through the behaviors and activities of each region of human development, no matter what that level of development and despite frameworks that vary from one set of people to the next. Culture is defined by frameworks that support needs, rather than through differences in basic human needs. Thus, human rights, despite the differences that are appreciated from one culture to the next, are not different. It is only the introduction of power that changes the way in which one culture will define how people are treated. Those in power will assert their authority by manipulating people through threats and rewards towards their human needs. Deprive a man of basic physical needs, and the motivations to follow the reigning authority will increase as those needs are fulfilled by that authority. Deprive those needs and not fulfill them and the next rebellious force that comes along promising to fulfill those needs will gain support. How human rights are defined is about the political frameworks in which needs are addressed and fulfilled. However, this still does not fully explain or define culture. There are general terms in which to define culture. Storey (2006: 1) suggests that a good broad definition of culture can be considered by saying it is a â€Å"general process of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development†. This definition allows for the separation between the diversity of culture and the cohesion of human needs as universal. People are essentially the same through each incarnation of culture. The differences are in the interpretations that are created about how to address needs, not from within the human condition. What people come to believe is a