Moral and Legal Foundations of Human Rights will examine the philosophical and religious origins of the contemporary human rights discourse, and the development of national and international human rights instruments. The course will evaluate the effectiveness of historical and contemporary approaches to human rights protection. The course will critique the Western bias of current human rights language, and explore the notion of rights in non-Western religions and societies.

Topics covered include the moral and religious foundations of human rights; the development of historical and contemporary human rights documents; the notion of rights in relation to universalism, cultural relativism, pluralism and multiculturalism; the effectiveness of current human rights protection; the problems of language in the current human rights discourse, and alternatives.