ABSTRACT
To be in favor of some Human Rights but, in the name of cultural traditions, not to be willing to endorse democracy is impossible to perceive as a legitimate claim. Remembering the development of democracy in Europe as the result of centuries of suffering and struggle helps the Western citizen to dialogue respectfully with citizens from Africa and Asia who struggle for Human Rights and a life in dignity today. The different conceptions of dignity presented by Immanuel Kant and Jean-Jacques Rousseau demonstrate that the conception of Human Rights always was and still is a contested work in progress.
