Universal

About Universal

Overview

Universal is a historic term that means an official proclamation or legal act. In several historic periods Universals were issued in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Polish and later also by Ukrainian authorities. The name originates from Latin litterae universales, meaning universal publication directed to all. The term was recently revived in modern Ukraine where the Universal of National Unity, a political multiparty agreement signed on August 3, 2006, ended a parliamentary crisis. Poland Universals were issued by the kings and governing authorities of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the Commonwealth, a universal could be a letter from the king read publicly to address significant events or a legal act by the king related to economic, military or religious matters. Universals were also routinely used to call the szlachta to assemble for a Sejm, or to report for pospolite ruszenie (or common levy). Universals could also be issued by high officials of the Commonwealth, like hetmans commanding military forces or voievodes overseeing a voivodeship. One of the most significant universals was the Uniwersał Połaniecki issued by Tadeusz Kościuszko in 1794, which proclaimed the end of serfdom. Ukraine In Ukrainian history, Universals has been used as a name for the act issued by the authorities. The main purpose of the Universal was to inform the people of the important decisions taken by the authorities. Thus, Universal is sometimes used interchangeably with Declaration. Cossack times

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Notable quotes

“Every inspirational leader defines and, most importantly, lives by the values he holds dearest. It is in our nature to live by universal values, and generally speaking, we try and uphold them.”
— Iván Mancillas, El Serviazgo As I’ve Experienced It (2014)
“Universal values are the values of the people of the world. Hence they should not be confused with imperial values or Western values. The state of diversity recognizes the uniqueness of communities, warning against unnecessary standardization of global life. The state of conflict arises when community practices violate universal values.”
— L. Ali Khan, A Theory of Universal Democracy: Beyond the End of History (2003)
“Despite dissent [such as from the United States] a universal value has come into being, that an International Criminal Court should be established to prosecute and punish the most serious crimes defined in the Rome Statute.”
— L. Ali Khan, A Theory of Universal Democracy: Beyond the End of History (2003)
“Values contained in a universal treaty are universal values, since no value is placed in a universal treaty if too many nations dispute its legitimacy.”
— L. Ali Khan, A Theory of Universal Democracy: Beyond the End of History (2003)
“It is fair to conclude that religion is universal in two senses. On the one hand it springs from a universal need. On the other hand, it possesses a universal value, and cannot fail, however much of error or blindness there may be in it, to elevate and dignify life. True religion is better than false, but it is not less certain that religion is better than irreligion.”
— Ralph Barton Perry, General Introduction, Lectures on the Five-foot Shelf of Books: Religion (1914)
“The authors define a data type (following Scott's work) as "a set of operations specifying an interpretation of values of a universal value space." These data types are themselves elements of a universal domain. Variables are not considered. Data types are treated as arguments to procedures, functions, and data types.”
— Michael L. Brodie, Data Abstraction, Databases, and Conceptual Modelling: An Annotated Bibliography (1980) Issues 500-559, Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.