Gastvortrag von Michal Valčo (Slovakia) und Do Thi Kim Hoa (Vietnam): „The Philosophy of Human Rights and the ‘Political Man’: Engaging the Intellectual Legacy of Ho Chi Minh in a Technological Era“

Seminarraum VI der Theologischen Fakultät (Karl-Rahner-Platz 3, 1. Stock)

Vietnam is a fast-developing economy. Besides the advancements of sciences, technology and the overall influences of the process of globalization on the Vietnamese society, however, there are serious challenges to be coped with. The liberalization of Vietnam’s economy has brought abrupt shifts in management and institutional oversight. Major social changes followed suit resulting in considerable detrimental effects in terms of new or resurfacing social phenomena. Rampant cases of corruption, human trafficking, abductions of women, the kidnappings of children, a strong surge in domestic violence and sexual abuses, growing cases of child labor exploitation are all too common occurrences in a society that had not long ago prided itself with order and social justice. Thus, the question of the place of traditional values and human rights in the Vietnamese society re-emerges with a new acuteness. The paper will introduce in a general manner the development of the philosophy of human rights and their place in human society. Following an analysis of the formation of Ho Chi Minh's notion of human rights, the article explores Minh’s notion of human rights against the background of a Western conception of human rights. Most importantly, critical questions will be asked about how to competently engage Minh’s ideas on this topic in the new era of contemporary Vietnamese socio-economical transformations.

Michal Valčo, PhD, is research professor of Religious Studies and Theology at the Greek Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Prešov, Slovakia. His research interest focuses on Philosophy of Religion (especially Kierkegaard, Taylor, and Bonhoeffer), the theologies of Martin Luther and Leonard Stöckel, the situation of the churches under and after the era of totalitarianism, and on contemporary ethical challenges by artificial intelligence and biotechnologies.

Do Thi Kim Hoa, PhD, is philosophy researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences in Hanoi. Her main area of expertise covers political and social philosophy with a special emphasis on the intellectual legacy of Ho Chi Minh and its significance for contemporary challenges of the Vietnamese society.