Essai d’une Critique Philosophique Africaine de la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme

In this article, I call into question the ‘universal’ character of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I first hold that the conception of the ‘human’ that underlies the formulation of the said declaration is a dominantly Western conception and that this conception, which is deemed or believed to be ‘universal,’ is far from being so and will probably never be so. I then show, by way of illustration, how Western conceptions of man and society are the polar opposite of African conceptions. From these significant divergences, I infer finally that it is more befitting to African societies to edict Human Duties than to proclaim Human Rights.