Topics: Social Justice Ethics

Summary: Agreeing with Vaclev Havel that human rights must have a basis in some authority that lies outside of human beings, Ramachandran evaluates Christianity with other religious and philosophical systems in their ability to provide such a basis. After defining human rights, Ramachandran mounts a case that without the Christian concept of imago dei, it is difficult to maintain a basis for human rights. He concludes his talk by giving historical examples of the parallel between the spread of Christianity and the proliferation of human rights and counters those who claim that Christianity is a form of cultural imperialism.