In today’s interconnected world, country borders are exceeded more easily than ever. This has led countries all over the world to integrate world citizenship in the educational curriculum. However,...Show moreIn today’s interconnected world, country borders are exceeded more easily than ever. This has led countries all over the world to integrate world citizenship in the educational curriculum. However, governments also use education as a mean for nation-building, using education as a powerful tool to enhance a country’s patriotic convictions. Within the philosophical debate, world-citizenship is embodied in cosmopolitanism and appears to have conflicting interest with patriotism. The former holds the conviction that all human beings have equal moral worth, whereas the latter advocates for a special concern for one’s fellow countrymen. In this thesis it is investigated whether these seemingly conflicting positions on morality can be taught simultaneously without conflicting one another. In order to investigate this question, the work of Martha Nussbaum is examined.Show less
As current democratic governments are unsuccessful in fulfilling our moral obligations to future generations, future-focused institutions aim to adapt our democracy to neutralise this short-termism...Show moreAs current democratic governments are unsuccessful in fulfilling our moral obligations to future generations, future-focused institutions aim to adapt our democracy to neutralise this short-termism. However, it often appears to be impossible for future-focused institutions to be both effective and democratically legitimate. This thesis aims to resolve this dilemma by arguing for strong external representatives, representatives of future generations outside of legislative assemblies that have a strong mandate to veto laws that have a strong negative impact on future generations. To claim that this is not only effective but also democratically legitimate, this thesis analyses the most influential theories on the boundaries of the demos, the All Affected Interests Principle and Democratic Values Theory, and demonstrates that they require the inclusion of future generations by means of a strong-mandated representative. Finally, this thesis also provides several desiderata on how strong external representatives should be instituted and discusses its political feasibility.Show less
Given that self-respect plays an incredibly important role in our lives, the aim of this thesis is to determine what place it should have in a theory of justice. In order to do so, it first...Show moreGiven that self-respect plays an incredibly important role in our lives, the aim of this thesis is to determine what place it should have in a theory of justice. In order to do so, it first examines the existing philosophical literature on this concept. It argues that this literature does not offer us a proper understanding of self-respect, treating it as an exclusively normative notion, while failing to consider its non-normative, empirical facet. By drawing on recent scientific research, it shows that there is an essentially natural component to self-respect, thereby pointing out a gap in the existing philosophical literature. Moreover, it argues that this natural component has to be taken into account, not just in order to properly understand this concept, but also to determine its place in a theory of justice. So, what is the place of self-respect in a theory of justice? Zooming in on John Rawls’ theory of justice as fairness, this thesis shows that Rawls only focussed on securing the social bases of self-respect, but failed to properly acknowledge its essentially natural component. Consequentially, Rawls failed to fully comprehend the fundamental difference between selfrespect and other social primary goods, failed to recognise the limits to treating self-respect as a distribuendum, and most seriously, failed to properly compensate citizens suffering from a natural deficiency of self-respect. This leads to the view that self-respect should be understood as a metric of justice instead of as a distribuendum. Lastly, this thesis asks how a theory of justice should treat those who are pessimistically predisposed, and as a result lack self-respect. It shows that these citizens can to at least some extent develop their self-respect. However, it also shows that in order to properly support citizens’ self-respect, one should not think and speak in terms of compensating them for some ‘disadvantage’, but in terms of affirming their equal worth and allowing them to live a worthy life. It concludes that while Dworkin’s luck egalitarian theory fails on the ideal and non-ideal level, and Anderson’s relational egalitarian theory fails on the non-ideal level, incorporating the constructive critique offered by Sen’s capabilities approach would make Rawls’ theory of justice optimally conducive to securing citizens’ self-respect.Show less
This thesis argues that sustainability as a desideratum of a theory of distributive justice can sometimes help decide what currency we should accept. This applies to the case of two widely...Show moreThis thesis argues that sustainability as a desideratum of a theory of distributive justice can sometimes help decide what currency we should accept. This applies to the case of two widely discussed currency approaches of distributive justice: primary goods and capabilities, both of which are involved in an endless debate on which is best as a currency of distributive justice. I argue that sustainability is necessary for any currency of justice, and that when it is taken into account it is capabilities which come out as victorious against the primary goods. The reason for this is because capabilities can help us think in terms of stability and resilience, key requirements of a sustainable currency of distributive justice.Show less
