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Global Poverty and Moral Obligations:

Weidstam, Amanda LU (2013) STVK12 20131
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Global poverty is the central moral problem of our times. This thesis is inspired by the political philosopher Thomas Pogge’s contributions to the current debate on world poverty and moral obligations. This thesis aims to elucidate and provide a reflection on the cosmopolitan-communitarian debate on the extent of our responsibilities for others at the global level, in particular to the global poor. Pogge presents the philosophical conclusion that affluent individuals and governments hold negative duties toward the global poor. The purpose of this research is to assess the possible challenges and strengths of Pogge’s analysis on our moral obligations to the global poor.
As I will show Thomas Pogge’s concept of negative duties has been... (More)
Global poverty is the central moral problem of our times. This thesis is inspired by the political philosopher Thomas Pogge’s contributions to the current debate on world poverty and moral obligations. This thesis aims to elucidate and provide a reflection on the cosmopolitan-communitarian debate on the extent of our responsibilities for others at the global level, in particular to the global poor. Pogge presents the philosophical conclusion that affluent individuals and governments hold negative duties toward the global poor. The purpose of this research is to assess the possible challenges and strengths of Pogge’s analysis on our moral obligations to the global poor.
As I will show Thomas Pogge’s concept of negative duties has been heavily criticized. I find many challenges with Thomas Pogge’s approach, however this thesis supports his theory’s main philosophical conclusion that the affluent world, to some extent, holds negative duties toward the global poor. Moreover, community boundaries should not matter when it comes to negative duties, because we can harm and be harmed by distant strangers through our international institutions. Even if there is no agreed certainty of what generates global poverty, we do know some of the contributing factors and therefore I agree with Thomas Pogge that negative duties should be seen as a stepping stone to motive the more advantaged citizens of the affluent countries to take on responsibility to address severe global poverty. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Weidstam, Amanda LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Strengths and weaknesses with Thomas Pogge's concept of negative duties to the global poor
course
STVK12 20131
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
cosmopolitan-communitarian debate, moral obligations, global poverty, Thomas Pogge, negative duties
language
English
id
3803443
date added to LUP
2013-06-27 13:18:57
date last changed
2013-06-27 13:18:57
@misc{3803443,
  abstract     = {{Global poverty is the central moral problem of our times. This thesis is inspired by the political philosopher Thomas Pogge’s contributions to the current debate on world poverty and moral obligations. This thesis aims to elucidate and provide a reflection on the cosmopolitan-communitarian debate on the extent of our responsibilities for others at the global level, in particular to the global poor. Pogge presents the philosophical conclusion that affluent individuals and governments hold negative duties toward the global poor. The purpose of this research is to assess the possible challenges and strengths of Pogge’s analysis on our moral obligations to the global poor.
As I will show Thomas Pogge’s concept of negative duties has been heavily criticized. I find many challenges with Thomas Pogge’s approach, however this thesis supports his theory’s main philosophical conclusion that the affluent world, to some extent, holds negative duties toward the global poor. Moreover, community boundaries should not matter when it comes to negative duties, because we can harm and be harmed by distant strangers through our international institutions. Even if there is no agreed certainty of what generates global poverty, we do know some of the contributing factors and therefore I agree with Thomas Pogge that negative duties should be seen as a stepping stone to motive the more advantaged citizens of the affluent countries to take on responsibility to address severe global poverty.}},
  author       = {{Weidstam, Amanda}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Global Poverty and Moral Obligations:}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}