What Does human values Mean
In the field of philosophy , values are the qualities that make a reality estimable or not. These values can be negative or positive, and qualify as lower or higher according to their hierarchy.
The concept of human values, in this sense, refers to those ideas shared by most cultures regarding what is considered correct. These values are those that exalt the human being : that is, they place the species on a plane of superiority thanks to morality.
A human value, therefore, is a virtue . Although customs and behaviors change with history, it is considered that there are values that must (or should) remain unchanged since they are what define man as a species. Human values are responsible for guiding and directing the action of people who want to do the right thing.
There is no specific list of human values, since their definition may vary according to the philosopher or thinker who proposes them as a result of their research. However, there are many values that are often mentioned without discussion .
The sensitivity is one of those human values recognized overall. It is considered that people should be sensitive to others, feel empathy and react to the suffering or pain of others.
Other of these values, which are sometimes also called moral , are honesty , respect , responsibility , gratitude , punctuality , prudence , sincerity , compassion , detachment from material things, loyalty and humility. .
It should be noted that, sometimes, human value is reflected in laws or obligations . In certain contexts, an individual does not choose to be responsible for his mere intention to act "correctly", but also because irresponsibility constitutes a crime; This happens, for example, when we decide not to drink alcohol before driving.
And here we enter a controversial terrain, where the essence of human values is questioned: if they were intrinsic to our nature, then we should not need rigor to respect them. We live immersed in different systems that offer us a supposed order in exchange for our freedom , and this generates a feeling of frustration and suffocation that grows slowly within us and leads us to break the rules very often.
On the other hand, we do not understand the true meaning of freedom , since it is not the right to pass through the Earth as we please, but rather represents a series of obligations, headed by the following: not to violate the balance of nature .
Until people learn to respect other animals and plants, it is useless to recite from memory a list of human values such as "do not steal, show gratitude and compassion to others." An individual who imprisons and tortures a group of animals and then murders them and sells their bodies in pieces cannot say with his head held high that he has values, and neither can someone who adopts a dog and takes it for a walk in the park. asphalt, tied and muzzled.
Western cultures focus too much on avoiding incest and polygamy, normal things in many other species of animals , but they are not afraid to lock up and exploit cows, pigs, horses, chickens and dogs, among many other victims of our cruelty ; We don't kill our neighbor because that is a crime, but we do shoot a fox if it enters our farm.
In summary, we should not wait for an official statement to tell us what are the human values that we must download on our mobile phone, but rather look within ourselves, in our wildest corner , our most human corner .