The core concern underlying the various problems in applied ethics is that of human rights. While most writings on human rights deal with its legal, political and socio-economic aspects, this collection instead addresses the philosophical aspect which has hitherto been neglected. Furthermore, the book explores the Indian counterpart of the idea of human rights which can be found in the notion of 'dharma'.

The text addresses issues of conceptual analysis as well as contextual applications of the idea of human rights and its fine nuances. It also contains papers which analyze the concept of 'dharma', raising questions on whether this concept can do 'double duty' for the notions of human rights as well as the notion of human duties. The collection offers papers on human rights issues of different categories of people, including ethnic minorities, homosexuals, women, mentally ill people and prisoners. The papers in this volume also afford grounds for comparative study.

Shashi Motilal is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Delhi.

Anthem South Asian Studies

Preface; Introduction; Part One: Rights, Obligations and Responsibilities; Applying Ethics: Modes, Motives and Levels of Commitment; Jurisprudence and the Individual: Bridging the General and the Particular; Why Moral Relativism Does Not Make Sense; Human Rights – A Theoretical Foray; Moral Relativism and Human Rights; Complicity and Responsibility; Dharma: The Overriding Principle of Indian Life and Thought; Moral Foundations of Social Order as Suggested in the Vaiśesikasūtras; Modern Western Conception of Justice as Equality before the Law and Dharmaśāstras; Part Two: Human Rights Issues; Fragile Identities and Constructed Rights; Affirmative Action: Compensation or Discrimination?; Ethics, Human Rights and the LGBT Discourse in India; Distributive Justice: Locating in Context; Punishment and Human Rights; Rights of the ‘Mad’ in Mental Health Sciences; Choice, Life and the (m)Other: Towards Ethics in/of Abortion; The Nationalist Project and the Women’s Question: A Reading of The Home and the World and Nationalism; On the Idea of Obligation to Future Generations; Morality in Cyberspace: Intellectual Property and the Right to Information; Violence – A Right to the Survival of the Self?; 'Moral Obligation' to Fight for the Prevention of Greater Calamity: A Debate between Sādharana Dharma and Sva Dharma; Globalisation and Human Rights; Notes on Contributors