2007 Handbooks

Liberal democratic societies confront a range of social justice issues relating to inequalities of power, economic distribution, and social status. Are such inequalities inherently unjust and if so, how should they be redressed? Specific issues of justice also arise from the position of ethnic minorities, and indigenous peoples in a multicultural society. What responsibilities do liberal democratic states have to such groups and what rights can they legitimately claim against the state? The global and international environment presents further issues of justice. What are the responsibilities of affluent nations and global institutions in dealing with global poverty, corruption and political violence? In this course we discuss some of the major contemporary philosophical theories of justice and assess their capacity to respond to these specific problems of justice.