Pursues queries about the idea of human rights: Is the idea of human rights inescapably religious? Are they universal? Are they absolute? This book's position is that all humans are sacred and thus the idea of human rights is inescapably religious.

In a culture in which it was widely believed that there is no God or metaphysical order of any kind, on what basis, if any, could the idea of human rights long survive?" "The Idea of Human Rights: Four Inquiries" will appeal to students of many disciplines, including (but not limited to) law, philosophy, religion, and politics. Of all the influential - indeed, formative - and moral ideas to occupy centre stage in the twentieth century, the notion of human rights is for many the most difficult.