odespinner

In the philosophical debate about global justice, there are divided opinions on the duties and obligations people have towards one another. There are some who think that, rather than accept that people around the world are of equal standing in terms of reciprocal ethical duties, they consider that there are some relationships that deserve greater priority. It could be family members, co-nationals, members of the same in-groups, or other institutions that they deem more deserving than people from distant lands.

It is hard to reconcile this version of cosmopolitanism with Kantian imperatives that dictate what we ought to do  or utilitarian principles that state that if we can help others in dire straits without significant hardship to ourselves we should do it.