The objective of this course is to teach students a balanced and comprehensive understanding of the debates on the ethics of human rights. This course covers both the theories of human rights and controversies of human rights in real cases. Some questions relevant to the ethics of human rights include: What are human rights? Are some rights more fundamental than others? Is it ever justifiable to violate these rights? Students will learn the concepts, philosophical traditions, and historical development of human rights. Some topics, which include the natural rights tradition from John Locke and liberalism, and the Asian values debate and Confucianism, will be discussed in class. This course also aims to enable students to apply ethical thoughts to contemporary political contexts of human rights. Students in this course will be expected to read texts critically. They should also be expected to contribute to class discussion.