The Just World

We live in a politically and economically interconnected world. The fates of distant individuals are ever more closely tied through processes of globalization. Nonetheless, a common perception is that fellow citizens have obligations to each other that they do not have toward distant strangers in foreign countries. It is mostly within domestic contexts that concerns about appropriate redistribution, equality of opportunity, and social services are articulated and made into political programs. But what does justice require that the rich do for the global poor? What steps do governments of wealthy countries have to take toward the creation of a just world? We start by exploring different approaches to the question of whether obligations of justice apply only to those who share a country. Different answers to this question prompt dramatically different views of what the just world would look like. We then assess whether the global economic and political order actually harms the global poor. Do the global poor require assistance offered in a spirit of beneficence, or do they require rectification of past or ongoing injustice? Next, we take a look at human rights and ask whether liberal values should be promoted as universal human rights. We complete the course by exploring moral obligations arising from trade (specifically the question of whether global labor standards should be linked with human rights standards), immigration, and global environmental justice. We provide guidance in writing philosophical papers. The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Ethical Reasoning 30. (4 credits)