3rd year course
Course title: Intellectual History of Human Rights
Teacher: Dr. Thierry Leterre
Semester: 1
Hours : 18
ECTS : 5
Language : English
Course description
The history of human rights is a complex entanglement of political aspirations, juridical constraints, and ethical
demands. Rooted in a rich past and in an even richer present, human rights are nonetheless challenged in many
ways, which raises the question of their future.
The purpose of the course is to shed light on the diversity of contemporary understandings of human rights by
revisiting different sources pertaining to the development of human rights ideas.
This will be achieved through the study of classical texts such as the Magna Carta, the Declaration of the rights of
man and citizen, or the universal declaration of human rights. More original sources such as the “Declaration of
independence” of the low countries, the Seneca Falls “declaration of sentiments”, or the current constitution of
Ivory Coast will be also reviewed to show how diverse and rich human rights are.
The methodology for this course will be the one of “intellectual” or “conceptual” history of politics, a seminal
methodology for exploring political ideas
- Enseignant: Thierry Leterre