Prawa człowieka jako kryterium organizacji społeczeństw w kontekście nauczania Jana Pawła II

Abstract

One of the major problems of the world today is the attitude to basic rights and the freedom of man. Great interest in human rights is an indication of their importance in the organization of societies. The teaching of John Paul II contributes a lot of new and significant factors to this issue. Above all this is the stress put on the dignity of man, not so much as the basis of rights, but as the recognition of dignity as a factor pinpointing the very conception of human rights. It should be noted that for John Paul II dignity of a human being is not only a determinant of the conception of the absolute rights but also of the integral ones. This means indissolubility of all rights which are man's due. Moreover, the so called individualization and universalization of human rights are an important factor. The pope does not consider the rights only generally; he is also concerned with the rights of children, mothers, the unemployed, etc. At the same time, alongside individualization, there appears combining of these rights, i. e. universalization. This means that the rights which are due to a person as an individual are combined with the rights of particular communities such as family, nation, state. Abiding by human rights in their multi-dimensionalism constitutes for John Paul II a criterium of organizing societies. It is on the basis of abiding by human rights that the construction of stable and just state structures will at all be possible.