Explores theoretical foundations, philosophical challenges, and epistemological issues in human rights law. The concept of human rights requires a deep theoretical exploration to understand that all individuals possess fundamental rights irrespective of their nationality or social status. The establishment of international human rights law faces skepticism due to its philosophical indefinability and potential inconsistencies. Scholars often describe the legal framework but avoid deep philosophical inquiries, which creates an epistemological disconnect between philosophy and law, and between law and justice. This chapter aims to bridge these gaps by delving into the elusive theory of human rights, examining how different philosophical perspectives can influence the understanding and application of human rights law. It argues for the necessity of integrating philosophical discourse with legal analysis to achieve a coherent and just human rights framework.

In this chapter, we provide an explication of advance directives (ADs) in a broad, international context, laying out the origins of the concept and how this is developing over time, as well as some of the conceptual and practical challenges that arise when ADs are implemented. We then put forward the two key rationales for our focus on the Asian context of advance directives and conclude with an introduction of the typology of jurisdictions that is employed in this volume.