Contemporary political discourse is replete with references to human rights. At the same time, theorists differ as to what justifies human rights discourse. Are there rights that humans have qua humans, and if so, what are their grounds? Richard Rorty's Oxford lecture on the topic is well known to human rights theorists. It offers  a pragmatist perspective that he prefers to the view he describes as human rights foundationalism. Professor Gilbert will briefly review some of the issues regarding human rights discourse and Rorty's distinctive approach.