Introduction

Global justice is an issue in political philosophy arising from the concern about unfairness. It is sometimes understood as a form of internationalism. Global justice and international justice may be distinguished in that the latter is concerned with justice between nations or states whereas the former sees individual human beings as its main concern and seeks “to give an account of what fairness among such agents involves”.

History

Norwegian philosopher Henrik Syse claims that global ethics and international justice in the western tradition form part of the tradition of natural law: the topic has been organised and taught within Western culture since Latin times of Middle Stoa and Cicero, and the early Christian philosophers Ambrose and Augustine. Syse states

This early natural-law theorising teaching centred around the idea of a ius naturale, i.e., a system of right which is natural and as such common to all people, available to humankind as a measuring stick of right and wrong.

Central Questions

Three related questions, concerning the scope of justice, justice in the distribution of wealth and other goods, and the institutions responsible for justice, are central to the problem of global justice. When these questions are addressed in non-ideal circumstances, they are part of the “ethics of process”, a branch of political ethics.

Scope

Are there, as the moral universalist argues, objective ethical standards that apply to all humans regardless of culture, race, gender, religion, nationality or other distinguishing features? Or do ethical standards only apply within such limited contexts as cultures, nations, communities, or voluntary associations?

A Moral Conception of Social Justice is only Universalistic if:

• It subjects all persons to the same system of fundamental moral principles
• These principles assign the same fundamental moral benefits and burdens to all: and
• These fundamental benefits and burdens do not privilege or disadvantage certain groups arbitrarily.