There are many for whom Sarah's religious ground for the morality of human rights – her religious ground for insisting that every human being, even the Other, has inherent dignity and that we should live our lives accordingly – holds no appeal. For many of these, Sarah's ground holds no appeal precisely because it is religious.

What ground can someone give who is not a religious believer and, so, rejects Sarah's and any other religious ground? (We could also ask what ground one can give who, though a religious believer, professes religious beliefs different from Sarah's – a Buddhist, for example. But that's not the question that engages me here.) Can any non-religious ground bear the weight of the twofold claim, which both Sarah and the International Bill of Rights make, that every human being has inherent dignity and is inviolable.