Reason and Conscience: The Debate over Article 1

Article 1 of the UDHR reads: 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. ' Behind these words lay a careful debate about foundations. An earlier draft said human beings were endowed 'by nature' with reason and conscience, a phrase that suggested a particular philosophy.

Some delegates wanted to mention God as the source of rights, as the American Declaration had; others, including delegates from officially atheist states, objected. The drafters removed both 'by nature' and any reference to God, leaving each reader free to supply their own foundation. The word 'conscience' is often said to reflect Peng Chun Chang's wish to express the Confucian idea of ren, a sense of shared humanity.

The result is a statement that sounds like natural law but is philosophically open, which supporters see as wise inclusiveness and critics see as leaving rights without a firm grounding.