World Poverty and Human RightsSome 2.5 billion human beings live in severe poverty, deprived of such essentials as adequate nutrition, safe drinking water, basic sanitation, adequate shelter, literacy, and basic health care. One third of all human deaths are from poverty-related causes: 18 million annually, including over 10 million children under five. However huge in human terms, the world poverty problem is tiny economically. Just 1 percent of the national incomes of the high-income countries would suffice to end severe poverty worldwide. Yet, these countries, unwilling to bear an opportunity cost of this magnitude, continue to impose a grievously unjust global institutional order that foreseeably and avoidably perpetuates the catastrophe. Most citizens of affluent countries believe that we are doing nothing wrong. Thomas Pogge seeks to explain how this belief is sustained. He analyses how our moral and economic theorizing and our global economic order have adapted to make us appear disconnected from massive poverty abroad. Dispelling the illusion, he also offers a modest, widely sharable standard of global economic justice and makes detailed, realistic proposals toward fulfilling it. Thoroughly updated, the second edition of this classic book incorporates responses to critics and a new chapter introducing Pogge's current work on pharmaceutical patent reform. |
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Contents
General Introduction | 1 |
Human Flourishing and Universal Justice | 33 |
How Should Human Rights be Conceived? | 58 |
Loopholes in Moralities | 77 |
Moral Universalism and Global Economic Justice | 97 |
The Bounds of Nationalism | 124 |
Achieving Democracy | 152 |
Cosmopolitanism and Sovereignty | 174 |
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acceptable affluent authority avoid basic benefit causes citizens claim committed common conception concern conduct constitutional cost countries criterion culture deaths demands Democracy democratic depends developed discussion diseases drugs duty economic order effects equal ethical example existing fact factors first flourishing foreign give global economic governments harms human rights idea important impose incentives income inequality innovation institutional order interests involved justice least less living medicines merely million moral natural negative objects official participants patent percent persons pharmaceutical political poor poor countries population position possible poverty present Press principles problem production proposed protect provides question reason reduce reform regard regime relevant Report requires responsibility rules secure severe share significant social institutions society specific standard tion understanding units University unjust violation
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Bibliographic information
| Title | World Poverty and Human Rights World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms, Thomas Pogge |
| Author | Thomas W. Pogge |
| Edition | reprint, revised |
| Publisher | Polity, 2008 |
| ISBN | 074564144X, 9780745641447 |
| Length | 352 pages |
| Subjects | › Philosophy / General Political Science / General Political Science / Human Rights Social Science / Poverty & Homelessness |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |