A critical examination of the ethical, political, and religious foundations of human rights. We will trace the development of the idea of human rights historically and globally while asking a number of central questions, including: do we discover human rights or do we invent them? How are human rights distinct from civil rights? Does our responsibility to respect human rights supersede any obligations we might otherwise have to respect national borders? Are critics right to worry that the idea of human rights can itself be misused to promote injustice?