On Human Rights

Are there any human rights that apply to all women and all men in all cultures at all times? Can we ground human rights in an abstract rationality possessed by every human being? Or, as some philosophers have claimed, are attempts to ground human rights doomed to failure? Do human rights in any case need such grounding? On Human Rights, the second book in the Oxford Amnesty Lecture Series, presents the opinions of seven distinguished contributors who approach the problem of universal human rights from a variety of perspectives using a wealth of contemporary and historical material. The essays make a significant contribution to the theory and practice of human rights . They grapple with the hard questions that confront anyone concerned with responding appropriately to the numerous violations of human rights that surround us.

Stephen Shute is a fellow and tutor in law at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University.

Susan Hurley is a fellow and tutor in philosophy at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, and author of Natural Reasons: Personality and Polity. She has been elected to a chair in political and ethical theory at the University of Warwick.