XIAORONG LI is Assistant Professor at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland, USA. Previously, she was a Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Centre (1992-93) and a member of the Institute of Advanced Study (1999-2000). Her publications include Asian Values and the Universality of Human Rights, Human Rights: Priority Ranking, Conflicts and Trade-Offs, and A Critique of Rawl's Freestanding Justice.

• Introduction PART I: LIVING WITH CULTURAL PARADOXES Paradoxes of Culture The Ethical Significance of Culture A Cultural Critique of Cultural Relativism PART II: TRANSCENDING DICHOTOMIES Destructive of Cultural Community? Intolerant of Cultural Pluralism? PART III: HUMAN RIGHTS: THE VIEW FROM ANYWHERE Cross-Cultural via the Inter-Subjective From Human Values to Inherent Rights From Practical Reasons to Extrinsic Rights An Unfair Utopia?