This volume brings together a collection of ten original essays which present new analyses of social and relational equality in philosophy and political theory. The essays analyze the nature of social equality and its relationship with justice and with politics.

This chapter lays out what we take to be the main types of justice and ethical challenges concerning those adverse effects of climate change leading to climate-related Loss and Damage (L&D). We argue that it is essential to clearly differentiate between the challenges concerning mitigation and adaptation and those ethical issues exclusively relevant for L&D in order to address the ethical aspects pertaining to L&D in international climate policy. First, we show that depending on how mitigation and adaptation are distinguished (...) from L&D, the primary focus of policy measures and their ethical implications will vary. Second, we distinguish between a distributive justice framework and a compensatory justice scheme for delivering L&D measures. Third, in order to understand the differentiated remedial responsibilities concerning L&D, we categorise the measures and policy approaches available. Fourth, depending on the kind of L&D and which remedies are possible, we explain the difference between remedial and outcome responsibilities of different actors. [Open access]. (shrink)

This chapter serves as an introduction to the collected volume. In the first section, we aim to provide background on important themes in social egalitarianism and to set the context for understanding which significant questions the chapters in this book pose and attempt to answer. In this section we focus especially on what could be said to characterize socially egalitarian relationships, on which relationships are of concern, and on what might make social egalitarianism distinct. In the second section, we provide (...) a brief explanation of the structure of the book and each of its chapters. (shrink)

This paper suggests a way to elaborate the ethical implications of the Warsaw International Mechanism as decided at COP 19 from the perspective of justice. It advocates three pro-posals. First, in order to fully understand the responsibilities and liabilities implied in the WIM, adaptation needs to be distinguished from loss and damage on the basis of the different goals which should be attributed to adaptation and to L&D approaches. Second, the primary concern of the WIM should be compensatory justice. In (...) case of climate L&D, three aspects of compensatory justice should be kept separate: corrective liability, remedial responsibility, and with regard to the resources available, fair remedy. Third, it is crucial to distinguish between recov-erable damage and irrecoverable or at least not fully recoverable loss. This distinction is crucial because it informs the principles of fair remedy and because damage and loss may differ in their relevance for the stability and functioning of a human system. (shrink)

In the Cancun Adaptation Framework, the parties to the United Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed “that adaptation is a challenge faced by all Parties, and that enhanced action and international cooperation is urgently required to enable and support the implementation of adaptation actions aimed at reducing vulnerability and building resilience in developing country Parties […].” Furthermore, the conference of the parties requests the developed countries to provide developing countries with additional finance, technology, and capacity-building. This paper argues that this (...) decision tends to oversimplify matters because it seems to differentiate responsibilities for climate change adaptation according to differences in the contribution to anthropogenic climate change only. However, the differentiation of responsibilities for climate change adaptation is more complex than it first appears to be. To show why the differentiation of responsibilities for climate change adaptation is more complex, this paper analyzes the aspects of responsibility as a fourfold concept. Someone is always responsible for something, answerable to some institution, and held accountable to a norm. The paper argues, first, that the appropriate object of responsibility in climate change adaptation is the burdens to be shared for effective and efficient adaptation. Second, for such adaptation to occur, however, subjects of responsibility should not only be developed countries. If appropriate competence and decision-structures are given in developing countries, these countries should also be deemed responsible for their own adaptation. Third, the paper shows that those vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change should decide on their own what adaptation measures they wish to take. Fourth, the argument of this paper suggests that ability-to-pay principles are the most appropriate norms by which to blame countries for failing their responsibilities in climate change adaptation. (shrink)

Significant disagreement remains in ethics about the duties we have towards wild animals. This paper aims to mediate those disagreements by exploring how they are supported by, or diverge from, the common-sense ethical principles of non-maleficence, beneficence, autonomy and justice popular in medical ethics. We argue that these principles do not clearly justify traditional conservation or a ‘hands-off ’ approach to wild-animal welfare; instead, they support natural negative duties to reduce the harms that we cause as well as natural positive (...) duties to promote the welfare of wild animals. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to link empirical findings concerning environmental inequalities with different normative yard-sticks for assessing whether these inequalities should be deemed unjust, or not. We argue that such an inquiry must necessarily take into account some caveats regarding both empirical research and normative theory. We suggest that empirical results must be contextualised by establishing geographies of risk. As a normative yard-stick we propose a moderately demanding social-egalitarian account of justice and democratic citizenship, which we take to (...) be best suited to identify unjust as well as legitimate instances of socio-environmental inequality. (shrink)

In this paper I argue for the following conclusions. First, quotas are not normative goals in themselves but only a means to reach non-discriminatory selection procedures. Second, in a democracy quotas are most plausibly used as a means to fill offices in those bodies which have a major impact on how well interests or discourses are translated into policy. Third, quotas for the young can be justified since, due to demographic development, their discourses tend to be marginalized. Fourth, youth quotas (...) cannot be a means to ensure long-term policy-making, but they can enhance legitimacy of long-term impacts from policy decisions taken today. (shrink)

This paper argues that an analysis of the dissatisfactory outcomes of international negotiations concerning climate change must take into account procedures of political decision‐making in democracies. Although the normative ideal of republican democracy has means of dealing with such dissatisfactory results, political processes in republican democracies take too much time and risk becoming stuck in tragic or dilemmatic decision structures when facing challenges such as climate change. Consequently, this paper discusses possibilities for redesigning republican democratic institutions to counter‐act these negative (...) forces. However, all possibilities discussed either call into question the normative ideal of republican democracy itself or would take too much time to be realized. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Jahrbuch für Wissenschaft und Ethik Jahrgang: 21 Heft: 1 Seiten: 197-220.

In der gegebenen globalen Governance-Struktur stellen souveräne Einzelstaaten die zentralen kollektiven Akteure dar, die Verantwortung für einen zeitnahen und eff ektiven Klimaschutz übernehmen müssen. Dieser Aufsatz vertritt die These, dass die Diff erenzierung der Einzelstaaten zumutbaren Verantwortung die Bedingungen berücksichtigen sollte, aufgrund derer sie als kollektivverantwortungsfähige Akteure verstanden werden können. Dies gilt sowohl mit Blick auf ihre historische Verantwortung für die Verursachung des Klimawandels als auch im Hinblick auf die Zukunft. Dabei ist für zeitnahen und eff ektiven Klimaschutz von zentraler (...) Bedeutung, dass die Verantwortungsfähigkeit aller Mitgliedsstaaten der UNFCCC erhalten bleibt, damit sie als kollektive Akteure ihren diff erenzierten Beitrag leisten können. (shrink)

This paper provides a critical comment on Philip Kitcher’s as yet unpublished book “The Ethical Project”. In the first part it explains why Kitcher’s position is naturalist as well as pragmatist. In the second part it is argued that the role ethics plays in human history is richer than Kitcher conceives it: Building on his view, this paper suggests that ethics not only provides a mechanism to diminish the risk of social conflict and social instability, but it also enables the (...) emergence of self-conceptions. This reveals according to what processes certain particular changes occurred in the evolution of ethics. (shrink)

Although I believe that Gardiner and Fragnière are right to claim that geoengineering governance demands participatory structures, I think more caution is needed. First, the public to be considered because it is affected must be differentiated depending on the geoengineering technique at issue and on the severity of its impact. Second, to avoid undermining democratic legitimacy, ethical conditions of legitimacy must be carefully assessed. Even though future generations and nature are very likely to be affected by geoengineering, their representation is (...) not as unproblematic as it might seem at first sight. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that the normative framework of liberal democracy is one of the sources of the failure of international climate politics. The liberal framework makes it very likely that at least some democracies will not consent to an international agreement to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In this situation, the institution of judicial review might be viewed as crucial to overcome the risk of a tragedy of the commons. However, judicial review cannot serve this purpose in the case (...) of climate change and an institutional change of the kind required cannot be derived from within the normative framework of liberal democracy itself. (shrink)

Ethics in managing climate change most often involves two issues that are tightly connected. The first involves considerations about the just distribution of entitlements and burdens, and the second concerns the fair differentiation of responsibilities. The chapter explains the most important ethical implications of international climate politics and shows why justice plays a key role in all areas of climate policy. Furthermore, it introduces the main domains of climate justice: historical, global, and intergenerational justice. Depending on the policy area at (...) issue, different combinations of principles of climate justice seem most appropriate. The chapter concludes by showing that the differentiation of responsibilities depends not only on which principles of justice are employed but also on the particular climate policy area and level that are at issue. (shrink)

This comment questions Lister's reading of the reciprocity condition in three respects. First, it challenges the view that this condition necessarily leads to egalitarian claims about just distribution. Secondly, it questions Lister's argument that the reciprocity condition is linked to substantial schemes of egalitarian distribution irrespective of context. Thirdly, it claims that entitlements to justice for people with mental or psychological impairments cannot be based on a distinction between willingness and unwillingness to contribute to the cooperative venture of a society.

Der Klimawandel stellt eine der größten Herausforderungen für die Menschheit dar. Aufgrund der seit der Industrialisierung stark erhöhten, menschengemachten Treibhausgaskonzentration in der Atmosphäre sind bereits jetzt klimatische Veränderungen und negative Konsequenzen spürbar. Wird nichts dagegen unternommen, sind klimabedingte Schäden und Verluste unvermeidbar.

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals saw the global community agree to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. However, the number of chronically undernourished people is increasing continuously. Ongoing climate change and the action needed to adapt to it are very likely to aggravate this situation by limiting agricultural land and water resources and changing environmental conditions for food production. Climate change and the actions it requires raise questions of justice, especially regarding food security. 0These key concerns (...) of ethics and justice for food security due to climate change challenges are the focus of this book, which brings together work by scholars from a wide range of disciplines and a multitude of perspectives. These experts discuss the challenges to food security posed by mitigation, geoengineering, and adaptation measures that tackle the impacts of climate change. Others address the consequences of a changing climate for agriculture and food production and how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected food security and animal welfare.0. (shrink)

In this comment I challenge Kerr’s claim that a coherent expression of a ‘liberalism of freedom’ needs an extended first Rawlsian principle of justice incorporating the principle of fair equality of opportunity for two reasons. First, such an extended first principle leads to illiberal consequences by narrowing down the scope of individual responsibility for choice and effort way too much. Second, such an extended first principle misses a main Rawlsian insight, namely that in a theory of justice the principle securing (...) basic liberties and the principle of fair equality of opportunity serve different purposes. (shrink)

Grünanlagen bzw. grüne Freiräume wie Parks, Uferböschungen von Flüssen oder Stadtwälder werden generell positiv bewertet. Dies geschieht aus ganz unterschiedlichen Gründen. Die einen nutzen den Stadtpark zum Joggen, die anderen feiern ein Fest oder Treffen sich in ihrer Community und für viele ist ein Park eine wichtige Oase der Erholung von der städtischen Betriebsamkeit. Ganz allgemein zeigen Studien, dass Grünanlagen zum Wohlbefinden der Stadtbevölkerung beitragen, sozialräumliche Polarisierung und sozialen Abstieg vermeiden helfen und darüber hinaus Umweltrisiken wie Überschwemmungen oder Hitzeextreme mindern (...) können. (shrink)

Geoengineering ? die technische Manipulation des Klimas ? muss mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit schon bald im grossen Stil Wirklichkeit werden. Denn zwei Drittel der wissenschaftlichen Analysen, die das Einhalten der 2-Grad-Leitplanke globaler Erwärmung des Klimasystems für möglich halten, gehen davon aus, dass unsere globale Wirtschaft noch in diesem Jahrhundert emissionsneutral funktioniert. Das scheint weder in der breiten Öffentlichkeit noch in der Politik hinlänglich bekannt zu sein.

Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Klimaschutz oder der Kampf gegen den Verlust von Biodiversität verlangen politische Entscheide, die langfristig sind und in die Zukunft weisen. Solche Entscheide belasten aber häufig die Bürgerinnen und Bürger von heute. Deshalb laufen Demokratien Gefahr, langfristigen Massnahmen auszuweichen. Dies liegt an ihrer institutionellen Struktur. Cite as: Wallimann-Helmer, Ivo (2020): Institutionen einer Nachhaltigen Demokratie, in: Bulletin der Schweizerischen Akademie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften 26,3, S. 33–36.

Transforming food systems: ethics, innovation and responsibility EurSafe 2022 Edinburgh, United Kingdom 7-10 September 2022 edited by: Donald Bruce and Ann Bruce.

Spätestens seit der Veröffentlichung von Eine Theorie der Gerechtigkeit ist Chancengleichheit ein prominentes Ideal der neueren liberalen Theoriebildung. War es im klassischen Liberalismus eher das Ideal der Freiheit, das im Vordergrund stand, kann man in der Auseinandersetzung mit der Theorie von John Rawls und der Entwicklung des Egalitarismus eine Verschiebung hin zum Ideal der Chancengleichheit beobachten, zumindest was die philosophische Theoriebildung zur Verteilungsgerechtigkeit betrifft. Ob Chancengleichheit damit allerdings eine angemessene Auslegung erfährt oder das liberale Ideal der Freiheit eher aufweicht, hängt (...) wesentlich davon ab, welches Gewicht das Ideal in der jeweiligen liberalen Theoriebildung erhält. (shrink)

Ethik ist in Gesundheitsberufen allgegenwärtig, auch wenn das den Betroffenen nicht immer bewusst ist. Doch das Bewusstsein hierfür hat in den letzten Jahren deutlich zugenommen. Dies zeigt sich nicht nur auf politischer Ebene, sondern auch daran, dass in vielen grösseren Gesundheitsinstitutionen Ethikstrukturen geschaffen worden sind.Zudem wird der Ethik in der Ausbildung zu Gesundheitsberufen zunehmend mehr Gewicht eingeräumt. Im Folgenden gehen wir von unseren Erfahrungen als Dozierende für Ethik im Bachelorstudiengang Physiotherapie der Zürcher Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften (ZHAW) in Winterthur aus. (...) Wir argumentieren für die für uns zentrale Schlussfolgerung, dass die Ethikausbildung in der Ausbildung zu Gesundheitsberufen viel interdisziplinärer gestaltet sein sollte, als sie das heute meistens ist. Denn Ethik ist, wie die Kommunikationskompetenz oder das Grundwissen zur Forschung, eine transdisziplinäre und interprofessionelle Kompetenz. Das gilt nicht nur für deren Vermittlung, sondern insbesondere für die medizinische Berufspraxis. (shrink)