P.C. Chang and Charles Malik: The Two Philosophers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was the result of almost two years of work from several participants and organizations before its adoption in the United Nations on December 10, 1948. The Declaration is one of the world's most famous and translated documents even though its principles and moral insights are far from realized around the world today. Although it was a collaborative work with many authors involved, some writers played significant roles in a special way. This article aims to present and analyze the contributions of two of the main drafters, namely the philosopher and diplomat Charles Malik (1906-1987) from Lebanon and the philosopher and diplomat P.C. Chang (1892-1957) from the Republic of China. Malik and Chang were the only philosophers in the drafting team, and they were all-rounded intellectuals and educators. In contrast to Chang and Malik, several of the other writers of the UDHR were lawyers or politicians. Chang and Malik came from different philosophical traditions. Chang had the pragmatist philosopher John Dewey as his tutor at Columbia in the beginning of the 1920s. Malik studied for the philosophers Alfred North Whitehead at Harvard and Martin Heidegger in Freiburg during the 1930s. The philosophical differences between Chang and Malik created fruitful dialogues between the two drafters. This article explores how the educational backgrounds and the previous professions of Chang and Malik influenced the character of the UDHR.