•  28
    Two views of assistance
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 43 (10): 998-1021. 2017.
    The article makes two substantive contributions to the existing literature on the ethics of international assistance and global justice. First, it builds what we take to be a widely held set of propositions about international assistance into a consistent view, and articulates a strong case against its desirability. Second, it sketches a more attractive alternative. To do so the article uses Sen’s idea of agent-oriented development as a starting point while at the same time providing a generaliz…Read more
  •  15
    A fair division of the surplus?
    Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. forthcoming.
    The paper examines a specific approach to the idea of the just price. The approach takes its cue from a basic insight about the nature of exchange, namely, that the latter occurs when both parties to the exchange stand to gain something from it. The distributive question that arises from this observation is how, or according to which principle, we ought to divide such gains. The paper rejects two intuitive answers. The first is that the just price is that at which the gains from exchange are equ…Read more
  •  8
    The just price and the gains from exchange
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 48 (8): 1057-1074. 2022.
    The paper explores a general framework for thinking about the idea of the just price. The approach is grounded in a basic aspect of the nature of exchange, namely, that the latter usually occurs when both parties believe they will be better off as a result. Put differently, an exchange is normally performed because both parties stand to gain something from it. The distributive question that arises from this observation is how one ought to divide such gains. The connection with the idea of the ju…Read more
  •  6
    The just price and the gains from exchange
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 48 (8): 1057-1074. 2022.
    The paper explores a general framework for thinking about the idea of the just price. The approach is grounded in a basic aspect of the nature of exchange, namely, that the latter usually occurs when both parties believe they will be better off as a result. Put differently, an exchange is normally performed because both parties stand to gain something from it. The distributive question that arises from this observation is how one ought to divide such gains. The connection with the idea of the ju…Read more
  •  1
    International Toleration: A Theory
    Routledge India. 2020.
    This book proposes a theory of toleration wherein liberal democracies peacefully co-exist with non-democratic societies. It conceptualises international toleration in a way that is both faithful to the liberal tradition and at the same time explains why we should accept some nonliberal and non-democratic political communities as members in good standing in international society. The volume delves into different theoretical understandings of the idea of toleration and what it has come to mean in …Read more
  •  5
    On Trade and Exploitation
    Moral Philosophy and Politics 9 (1): 125-146. 2022.
    In this essay I critically engage with Mathias Risse and Gabriel Wollner’s book On Trade Justice: A Philosophical Plea for a New Global Deal. I sketch their general view of the concept of exploitation and of trade exploitation more specifically. I then suggest that, contra Risse and Wollner, exploitation belongs to non-ideal theory. In addition, I argue that Risse and Wollner have not shown that the WTO is exploitative, and argue that their account of fair wages suffers from a number of weakness…Read more
  •  18
    Prolegomena to a critical theory of the global order
    with David Held
    Ethics and Global Politics 12 (3): 1668198. 2019.
    We start from, and expand on, a basic insight in negative dialectic, namely, that our main concern should be with the absolute worst in political life. We then consider how this might have an impact on the way we understand the role and grounds of moral equality. Subsequently, we move on to explain the importance of decency in political morality. Finally, we take a closer look to basic data about global poverty and inequality and what these might tell us in light of our analysis of the foundatio…Read more
  •  6
    Humanity and Moral Equality. Editor’s Introduction
    Philosophy and Public Issues - Filosofia E Questioni Pubbliche. forthcoming.
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  •  5
    Of Blood, Oil, and Engaged Political Philosophy
    Philosophy and Public Issues - Filosofia E Questioni Pubbliche. forthcoming.
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  •  47
    Toleration, decency and self-determination in The Law of Peoples
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 41 (6): 537-556. 2015.
    In this article I address two objections to Rawls’ account of international toleration. The first claims that the idea of a decent people does not cohere with Rawls’ understanding of reasonable pluralism and sanctions the oppressive use of state power. The second argues that liberal peoples would agree to a more expansive set of principles in the first original position of Law of Peoples. Contra the first I argue that it does not properly distinguish between the use of state power aimed at curta…Read more
  •  29
    The main aim of this paper is to act as a corrective to the comparatively deafening silence of egalitarian political philosophy’s response to the Great Recession. The paper thus provides an accessible analysis of a new strand of empirical research into the causes of the crisis. This new literature, which has largely gone unnoticed by the broader philosophical community, maintains that the main driver of financial instability is income and wealth inequality coupled with income stagnation at the b…Read more
  •  12
    The Law of Peoples: Beyond Incoherence and Apology
    Journal of International Political Theory 7 (2): 190-211. 2011.
    The essay provides a reconstruction of Rawls's The Law of Peoples that makes sense of three main discontinuities between Rawls's domestic theory of justice and his international outlook, namely the absence in the latter of: a) individualism, b) egalitarianism, and c) structural justice. The essay argues that while we can make sense of such differences without charging Rawls's account of blatant inconsistency, we can nonetheless criticize such an outlook from an internal perspective. There is a m…Read more
  •  12
    Global Political Theory (edited book)
    with David Held
    Polity. 2016.
    Philosophers have never shied away from interrogating the nature of our obligations beyond borders. From Hobbes to the international lawyers Grotius, Pufendorf, Vattel, and of course Kant, modern philosophy has always attempted to define the nature and shape of a just international order, and the types of mutual obligations members of different political communities might share. In today's hyper-connected world, these issues are more important than ever and have been an impetus to a political th…Read more
  •  7
    On Constitutional Democracy and Robust International Law
    Ethics and International Affairs 30 (4): 451-460. 2016.
  •  123
    The wto and the limits of distributive justice
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 35 (3): 243-267. 2009.
    In this article I rethink Rawls' conception of international economic justice, with a particular focus on international trade. I ground my normative argument on a different interpretation of the concepts of basic structure and of basic institution. I use the contemporary international trading system to illustrate my normative interpretation. I use the Law of Peoples to discuss the Rawlsian concept of basic structure. I contest Samuel Freeman's interpretation of this concept as one that pertains …Read more
  •  13
    Benevolent absolutisms, incentives and Rawls’ The Law of Peoples
    Politics, Philosophy and Economics 15 (4): 379-404. 2016.
    Rawls’ The Law of Peoples does not offer a clear principled account of the way in which liberal and decent peoples should deal with benevolent absolutisms. Within the Rawlsian framework, benevolent absolutisms are a type of society that respects basic human rights and is not externally aggressive. Rawls rules out the use of coercion to engage with benevolent absolutisms but does not provide an alternative strategy. The article develops one, namely, it argues that liberal and decent peoples shoul…Read more
  •  4
    Should We Tolerate Benevolent Absolutisms?
    Social Theory and Practice 42 (3): 525-554. 2016.
    In this paper, I argue that the real problem with Rawls’s view of international toleration is that, properly understood, it seems not too inclusive, but not inclusive enough. I examine the standing of what Rawls calls “benevolent absolutisms.” According to Rawls, their lack of internal mechanisms of collective will-formation means that benevolent absolutisms cannot be seen as members in good standing of the Society of Peoples. I claim that if we accept the best reconstruction of Rawls’s argument…Read more
  •  9
    Cosmopolitanism in a Gridlocked World
    Philosophy and Public Issues - Filosofia E Questioni Pubbliche. forthcoming.
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