This is an innovative contribution to the philosophy of human rights. Considering both legal and philosophical scholarship, the views here bear an importance on the legitimacy of international politics and international law. As a result of more than 10 years of research, this revised edition engages with current debates through the help of new sections.

Preface second edition.- Introduction second edition.- Part I.- 1 Cognitive Relativism and Experiential Rationality.- 1.1 Beyond Cognitive and Linguistic Relativism.- 1.2 Epistemic Relativism Refuted.- 1.3 The Experiential Validity of the Cognitive System.- 1.3.1 Judgement and Truth.- 2 Beyond Moral Relativism and Objectivism.- 2.1 Forms of Moral Relativism.- 2.2 The Two Horns of the Dilemma: Relativism versus Objectivism.- 2.2.1 Harman's Inner-Judgments Relativism.- 2.2.2 The Limits of Nagel's Objectivism in Morality.- 2.3 Wong's Mixed Position: the Idea of Pluralistic Relativism.- 2.4 Discursive Dialectic of Recognition.- Part II.- 3 Human Rights and Pluralisitc Universalism.- 3.1 From Purposive Action to Communicative Action.- 3.1.1 Discursive dialectics and the processes of subjectivization.- 3.2 The Priority of Recognition and the Formal System of Basic Liberties .- 3.3 Human Dignity as an orienting principle of the universal system of human rights.- 3.3.1 Human Dignity as a Juridical Principle.- 3.3 The Exemplar Validity of Human Rights.- 3.4 Deliberative Constraints and Pluralistic Universalism.- 4 The Legal Dimensions of Human Rights.- 4.1 The Source and the Content Validity of Law.- 4.2 The Structure and Function of Human Rights.- 4.3 Transplantability and Legal Commensurability.- 4.4 What is Wrong in the Democratic Peace Theory.- Bibliography.- Index of names.- Index of topics.