ACTIVITY 1

Identify five universal human values. Explain each.

Universal value is a value that almost all people must possess. These values encompass
morality and human traits like happiness, peace, respect, freedom, etc. According to Sokolova
(2014), universal values are one the most common topics nowadays that people come across
with. We almost encounter and read them through newspapers and magazines. Sokolova (2014)
added that our experience of them builds up an illusion where its content is clear, engaging and
shared by everyone. Here are some examples of basic universal human values.

         Happiness is what most people want to achieve nowadays. As happiness is one of the
basic universal values, it refers to good fortune, contentment and joy that most people desire for
their lives. All human beings continuously aspire to possess a happy life through their own
means. Some people define happiness by eating three times a day, some are content with getting
passing scores on their exams and for most people happiness is a state of feeling when you know
life is so good that you feel joy and satisfaction that even makes you smile or even cry.

         Next, is the value of peace. Peace is a comprehensive and broad concept. Most people
define peace in two ways; some determine peace as an absolute peace where it manifests
calmness on their inner mind given in all situations and the other one is the peace where there is
no violence and war exists. Peace is what every normal person dreams of (Hadzic, 2018). It
transcends harmony and equanimity to people. It is a state where a country or group of people
have serenity and composure within them. Living in peace can be defined by people having good
relationships with everyone around them or with their neighbors and some people may represent
peace with their state of being calm.

         Third universal value is freedom. Freedom is the state of being free. It is our power to do
things, speak, think and act according to our own choice and liking. It is a value that is innate in
us without the laws and people that hinders us. It is the ability to act on our own principles and
values without any constraint. In a narrow sense, freedom is the concept of liberty and to be free
from other’s command and rules.
         Followed by freedom is equality. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia, the concept of
equality is the correspondence between a group of different things or persons that have the same
qualities in respect. In this definition, equality is distinguished from the identity that one
possesses. With this, equality implies the state of being equal or similarity. In our world, equality
is still a big issue for us that some want equality in their workplace and some people want to
promote equality to avoid discrimination especially in terms of their genders.

         Lastly is the universal human value of respect. Respect is a positive action or feeling that
can be shown to people or to something. It is the concept of giving honor and care to people. It is
important to give respect to people since giving respect means treating someone with dignity.
Other than that, respect can be done by listening to the voice of other people and by
acknowledging people regardless of their age, skin color, gender, and etc.

ACTIVITY 2

In your opinion, why human dignity is important?

Kant’s perspective of human dignity, he defined it as the supreme value that all humans
possess in the virtue of their humanity. Human dignity is the right of every person to be
respected and to be valued. For me, human dignity is important for all of us because it will let us
have the right to be treated morally and ethically. With a bad reputation and losing human
dignity, other people may treat you badly. Possessing human dignity within us will reflect our
sense of self- worth and our sense of self pride. It will make other people’s respect for us
maintained and preserved. This sense will make us and other people that we deserve esteem and
appreciation.

         The concept of human dignity is highly essential for us, human beings, to hold our
morals, principles and beliefs that are purely intact to our humanity. It can represent our full
potential in many aspects regardless of our age, genders, capacity and skills. Moreover, our
human dignity is somewhat a review of our accomplishments and merits of worthiness. It
possesses the principle of “Human dignity is living like a human”. When people ignore human
dignity, it means they begin to ignore human rights and start to trample the rights of others. 

Martin Luther King Jr. said that, “Every man is an heir to a legacy of dignity and worth.”
Our human dignity is our cover that reflects our sense of morality and ideals. Once it is stained,
our human basic worth will be stained as well.

ESSAY
1. Discuss universal values based on Kofi Annan.

Universal values are values that are characterized by ethical principles that are based
on shared human values and morals. In the lecture with regard to global ethics, Kofi
Annan on 2003, said that, “The universal values enshrined in the United Nations Charter
and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights more than half a century ago- such as
peace, freedom, social progress, equal rights and human dignity- are more important now
than ever as they come under attack in a backlash against globalization.” Looking now at
the growing interdependence of our world’s economies, populations and cultures, some
people are brought together with these yet in the other of the coin, some people started to
fall apart by not sharing, being self- centered and ended up being greedy for wealth and
prosperity. With this in mind, the universal values that Kofi Annan said- the peace,
human dignity, freedom, equal rights, social progress and many other more, are the most
important things that must be implanted among us. It is also important to apply them in
real life for us to develop more humanness and peace in the world. In reality, there are
still some problems with regards to injustice, corruption, discrimination in skin color,
gender and capacity and many moral issues in international countries. For me, as a simple
student, if the world, starting for any of us, started to apply these values and solely give
their interest in peace regardless of ethnicities, cultures, traditions, gender, skin color and
religions there will be a better future in our world than what we expect. Discrimination,
oppression and mass destruction will not exist and just like what Kofi Annan’s intentions,
universal values are far more important than ever as it ensures that people around the
world can share and value their own differences without giving themselves into the state
of ferocity and brutality by sharing their one and the same principles.

2. Summarize the various definitions of universal values.

Universal values are believed to be the basis of human integrity. According to

Kofi Annan, in his lecture in Tubingen University in Germany, he pointed out that
universal values like peace, social progress, freedom, equality and human dignity are
more important nowadays than globalization itself. On his claim he argued that universal
values must be promoted and applied as it will be the solution against violence and let
peace and security be driven in our world. To give definition more about universal
values, here are some of the statements that describe and define universal values
according to different authors.
According to the journal article of Kishor 2012, “Human identity reflects a
dynamic and complex expression of a person’s unique characteristics that we formed
through myriad levels of influence”. Added to that he said that values are defined to be
the concept of what is considered important, ethical and suitable to a person or group. In
 this perspective, we can say that universal values are values that apply to all people
despite their culture, tradition, and ethnicities.
Furthermore, according to an article published in lifepersona.com, universal
values can be understood in two ways. First is that a large number of people living with
different conditions in life and possessing different beliefs, find a certain human
characteristic as valuable. For this ‘characteristic’ it is defined as the universal value. The
other one is that something is considered a universal value if all people have a cause or
basis to think that it is a characteristic that must be valued whether it is to be believed or
not. On the same note, Zhang (2013), also claimed that universal values can be defined in
two understandings. For Zhang (2013), first is that values could be applied to all people
regardless of class and whichever person is in favor of such values. Thus, it means they
have universal applicability. The second one is that “values are applicable to any society
and whatever socio-economic patterns; that is, they are permanent in the history of
mankind.”
Moreover, stated in Wiki Didactic, value is defined as the quality of people,
things and situations while universal is an adjective that is related to the universe. With
this in mind, universal values are defined to be the formed values through behavioral
standards needed to have a peaceful and united society.

3. Explain dignity in your own perspective.

Dignity is the state or quality of possessing honor, excellency and worthiness. It is

the sense of our self- worth and morale. Additionally, it is defined as our self-pride that is
innate with us as a human being. Based on my experiences, I met someone online
professing that she was being bullied in her school. She is often called “pig” and “ugly”
by her supposed friends and she confessed that they always get money from her to pay
for their lunch. With all looking at her story, her supposed ‘friends’ were disregarding the
respect and dignity of the girl I met online. In relation to this, for my own perspective of
dignity, I think it can be also achieved through getting respect from others. When a
person gets respected, this person can feel dignified. Treating other people with respect
and dignity means treating them the way we like to be treated as well. Dignity is one of
the most important things we have to have a sense of belongingness. It is all to our human
spirit and morality. It is all people possess in the first place regardless of our age, skin
color, and capabilities. In conclusion, for me, all people must deserve to have dignity not
particularly because of our achievements in life and not primarily because of our
worthiness due to our skills and capabilities but rather we deserve to be treated with
respect and be dignified since dignity is within all of us to begin with.
References:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/equality/
https://www.lifepersona.com/universal-values-what-they-are-classification-and-most-
outstanding-examples
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5355899/#:~:text=For%20Kant%2C%20human
%20dignity%20(Menschenw%C3%BCrde,autonomous%20choices%2C%20and%20moral
%20actions.
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2003-12-12/secretary-generals-lecture-global-
ethics-do-we-still-have-universal

Adhikari, Kishor. (2012). The Search for Universal Values. IOSR Journal of Humanities and
Social Science. 2. 69-72. 10.9790/0837-0216972.
Hadžić, Harun. (2018). Re: What is the best definition of peace?. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_best_definition_of_peace/5c0187993d48b77c7c
12e3e1/citation/download.
R. I. Sokolova (1995) Universal Human Values, Russian Studies in Philosophy, 33:4, 82-
94, DOI: 10.2753/RSP1061-1967330482
Wiki Didactic. What is the Meaning of Universal Values| Concept and Definition of Universal
Values. Retrieved on June 25, 2021 from https://edukalife.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-
meaning-of-universal-values.html
Yonghong Zhang (2013). Universal Values: Spread in China and the Essence. American Journal
of Humanities and Social Sciences Vo1. 1, No. 4, 2013, 258-262 DOI:
10.11634/232907811301439