Cultural Freedom and Pluralism: Rights and Principles
Creation Science
Creation Science: A methodological discourse, rational and proven, without any preconceived value unconditioned outside of science itself and not demonstrated by it. In identifying the most relevant scientific creation, the method is the result.
Technical Capacity
Technical Capacity: Its purpose is the practical application of science, making it useful to society. Technology is increasingly establishing clearer, more defined borders, more divorced from science. The outstanding importance of technology in Western civilization, and the progressive affirmation of art as an autonomous theoretical level, is the reason for its presence in the Spanish Constitution as a free creative practice (although in this case, the protection of authorship is more relevant). It is also mentioned as “technical research” alongside scientific research, as a task whose promotion rests with the authorities.
Cultural Freedom of Communication
This includes:
- a) The right to the generic free transmission of created culture, which manifests differently depending on the medium used.
- b) Freedom of education and academic freedom, which are unique manifestations of the freedom of cultural communication with their own name and paradigmatic value.
Freedoms of Entrepreneurship and Cultural Institutionalization
Their mission is to ensure the plurality of social initiatives, both individual and collective, in relation to culture. They also aim to prevent exclusivity or monopoly by public authorities in areas of cultural life where, in performing their duties to facilitate individuals’ access to culture, they act as promoters and providers of cultural services.
Principle of Free Personality Development
This principle underlies the system of relations between the state and individuals. It necessitates respect for people’s “dignity” and humanness, regardless of social position. It affirms the idea that each individual must be able to develop their own unique human characteristics. This principle not only affirms the preeminence of the individual over the state but also provides an anthropocentric emphasis, evident in its humanistic purpose. The law affirms the right to free personality and its development. The implication between the development of personality and culture is contained in the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in relation to education, inmates, and the environment.
The Principle of Cultural Pluralism
General Comment: The principle of cultural pluralism is based on two assumptions:
- Cultural diversity is a fact of nature, a tendency of human groups, and therefore a unique and irreplaceable value.
- The personality of the individual does not develop in isolation but within specific cultural environments and contexts.
Along with the consideration of cultural diversity as a value, the idea of the equal “dignity” of all cultures also appears. In contrast to the hierarchical conception of cultural diversity (separate from evolutionary theories), this idea reflects a desire for equal recognition of the irreplaceable uniqueness of all cultures.