First, a confession. As a political philosopher, I have long been skeptical about the idea of human rights. Rights language had been appropriated by the libertarian right, and in much of my work I preferred to focus on concepts such as social justice or disadvantage. But increasingly I worried that my academic work was out of step with the global political agitators I most admired, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Intellectually, the most important step for me was listening to Joseph Raz argue that philosophical work on human rights should be reoriented around human rights practice and give up its obsession with the question of the philosophical foundations of human rights. Reading and listening to Gorik Ooms and Paul Hunt reinforced me in this attitude, which I also recognize in the philosophical writings especially of Henry Shue and Charles Beitz, among many others. I’ve been slow to come to the human rights party, but I’m very pleased that I am here at last.
The idea of writing this book came from discussions, over several years, with Roby Harrington at Norton. We had long agreed that I should write something for Norton, and the Global Ethics series presented the ideal opportunity. I am immensely grateful to Roby for his encouragement and confidence, and to Anthony Appiah for his support. Writing this book allowed me to do what I find I like immensely: learn from people in academic disciplines other than my own, including health activists, international lawyers, clinicians, anthropologists and medical historians.
A draft of this book was read by Doug Reeve, Mark Hannam, Markus Haacker, and Octavio Luiz Motta Ferraz, who saved me from many mistakes and provided excellent positive suggestions. Advice on revisions from Roby Harrington, Anthony Appiah, Brendan Curry, and Jake Schindel was invaluable. Some of my earlier work on this topic was greatly assisted by comments from Gillian Brock and Solly Benatar. I’d also like to thank Allegra Huston for her superb copyediting. Chance conversations that alerted me to important issues that I might otherwise have missed took place with Ole Frithjof Norheim, in a hotel bar, and Polly Vizard, on, I think, a train. I’ve also learned more than I can remember, and certainly more than I can remember to acknowledge, in seminar rooms and lecture halls, both from other speakers and from audiences at my own talks.