Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-294) and index.

Overture : "The spotted butterfly" -- How do we talk about human rights? -- A short history of human rights in the West -- A short history of human rights in China -- Adagio : "Double talk" -- Legal justifications -- Interest justifications -- Agency justifications -- Ontology, justice, and human rights -- Scherzo : "Straight to the top" -- War rape -- Political speech -- LGBT rights -- Rondo : "The game" -- Afterword: The politics of change.

This timely book by internationally regarded scholar of ethics and social/political philosophy Michael Boylan focuses on the history, application, and significance of human rights in the West and in China. Boylan engages the key current philosophical debates prevalent in human rights discourse today and draws them together to argue for the existence of natural, universal human rights. Arguing against the grain of mainstream philosophical beliefs, Boylan asserts that there is continuity between human rights and natural law and that human beings require basic, essential goods for minimum action. These include food, clean water and sanitation, clothing, shelter, and protection from bodily harm, including basic healthcare. The achievement of this goal, Boylan demonstrates, will require significant resource allocation and creative methods of implementation involving public and private institutions. Using the classroom-tested dynamic approach of combining technical argument with four fictional narratives about human rights, the book invites readers to engage with the most important aspects of the discipline.