How Does the Existence of Nuclear Weapons Constitute a Threat to Human Rights and the Possibility of Achieving a Nonkilling Global Society?
Institutional Affiliation
Center for Global Nonkilling (CGNK)
Start Date
16-1-2025 10:45 AM
End Date
16-1-2025 12:15 PM
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Format
Virtual
Proposal Description
A non-killing society envisions a human community, from local to global, where the killing of humans and the threats that come with it, the creation of weapons designed for human destruction, and ideological justifications for killing are absent. This paradigm, coined and advocated by Glenn D. Paige, rests on the belief in humanity's capacity for nonkilling behavior. In line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which asserts in Article 3 the right to life, liberty, and security for all, the concept of nonkilling challenges the dominant norms established by the existence of nuclear weapons. The emergence of nuclear bombs in August 1945 represented a glaring contradiction to the principles of the UDHR. Nuclear weapons, as the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 illustrate, can cause indiscriminate killing, in flagrant contradiction with the affirmation of the right to life contained in this declaration. Today, the existence of approximately 13,000 nuclear warheads held by nine nuclear states poses an existential threat to humanity. This project aims to explore the interaction between the non-killing philosophy and the right to life as articulated in the UDHR. It will assess the extent to which the proliferation of nuclear weapons undermines this fundamental right and threatens the principles of the non-killing paradigm. The analysis will highlight the urgent need for coordinated action by using materials related to human rights, non-killing peace studies, and nuclear disarmament. The findings will serve as a unifying force for activists and scholars in nuclear disarmament, human rights advocacy, and nonkilling scholars. By advocating for the elimination of nuclear weapons, they seek to advance all aspects of human rights, particularly the right to life, and pave the way for the realization of a peaceful and nonkilling global society. Eliminating nuclear weapons represents a critical step toward achieving this vision.
How Does the Existence of Nuclear Weapons Constitute a Threat to Human Rights and the Possibility of Achieving a Nonkilling Global Society?
A non-killing society envisions a human community, from local to global, where the killing of humans and the threats that come with it, the creation of weapons designed for human destruction, and ideological justifications for killing are absent. This paradigm, coined and advocated by Glenn D. Paige, rests on the belief in humanity's capacity for nonkilling behavior. In line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which asserts in Article 3 the right to life, liberty, and security for all, the concept of nonkilling challenges the dominant norms established by the existence of nuclear weapons. The emergence of nuclear bombs in August 1945 represented a glaring contradiction to the principles of the UDHR. Nuclear weapons, as the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 illustrate, can cause indiscriminate killing, in flagrant contradiction with the affirmation of the right to life contained in this declaration. Today, the existence of approximately 13,000 nuclear warheads held by nine nuclear states poses an existential threat to humanity. This project aims to explore the interaction between the non-killing philosophy and the right to life as articulated in the UDHR. It will assess the extent to which the proliferation of nuclear weapons undermines this fundamental right and threatens the principles of the non-killing paradigm. The analysis will highlight the urgent need for coordinated action by using materials related to human rights, non-killing peace studies, and nuclear disarmament. The findings will serve as a unifying force for activists and scholars in nuclear disarmament, human rights advocacy, and nonkilling scholars. By advocating for the elimination of nuclear weapons, they seek to advance all aspects of human rights, particularly the right to life, and pave the way for the realization of a peaceful and nonkilling global society. Eliminating nuclear weapons represents a critical step toward achieving this vision.