ABSTRACT
One of the most accessible ways to wrap one’s mind around the controversy over Confucianism and human rights is to consider what would happen to a well-functioning family if it instituted many of the same practices as rights-protecting societies. As many Confucians see rightsprotecting societies, their members have certain obligations to others by virtue of the fact that they are fellow citizens or fellow human beings, not by virtue of being friends, cousins, neighbors, or siblings. People are free or even encouraged to lay claim to their rights when they are threatened, and when they do so there are formal and often informal mechanisms that help to protect them. When they invoke their rights, they typically invoke them against other citizens, creating a potentially adversarial relationship between them. And the rights that people claim tend to be fi xed and non-negotiable, making them less inclined to look for ways to harmonize their interests with one another.
