Cosmopolitan Justice

Increasing global economic integration and recent military interventions in the name of human rights have forced questions of global justice into political discussions. Is the unequal distribution of wealth across the globe just? What's wrong with imperialism? Are the most indebted countries obligated to pay back their loans to international financial institutions? What, if any, restrictions may be placed on immigration? Is economic protectionism just? Does respecting state sovereignty prohibit intervening in the affairs of other states? May interventions which curtail human rights abuses be just? What is the moral basis of international law?Cosmopolitan Justicetakes on these questions in the course of presenting a systematic account of global duties of justice.Many contemporary accounts of justice take its scope to be limited to the state. And, when attention is paid to international justice, the objects of moral concern are states. Moreover, there is a growing trend amongst political philosophers and theorists to argue that nationality presents a source of special moral duties.Cosmopolitan Justiceargues against these views, and the book also provides a justification of global duties of justice, which are owed to all persons, regardless of their citizenship or nationality. The book applies this perspective to a number of international issues.

Darrel Moellendorf is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Institute for Ethics and Public Affairs at San Diego State University.