Course Description

Course Exam

Introduction

“What is usually the right thing to do?” Consider the following four national opinions.

“We cannot afford that much foreign aid.”…………………….”The more we give, the more we get”

“Nations should forgive nations”……………………………………. “We can never forgive the Nazis”

To deal with global ethics, you need to find the answers to these questions:

1. What is Global Ethics?
   1.1  Definition
   1.2  International Laws
2. How Can Human Rights Be Protected?
   2.1  Definition of Human Rights
   2.2  Sources of Human Rights Violations
   2.3  Ways of Protecting Humans Rights
3. Should Wealthy Nations Provide Foreign Assistance to Poorer Nations?
4. When Should Nations Forgive?

 

1.  What Is Global Ethics?

1.1  Definition

Global ethics has to do with ethical issues affecting the world. When thinking about global ethics, we are concerned with actions taken by citizens and political leaders of nations, and with international laws.

1.2  International Laws

International laws set forth kinds of conduct by nations that are ethical and unethical.

There are numerous international laws. Some particularly important ones include the United Nations Charter (1945) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

These and other international laws include:

• Human rights are to be protected
• Aggression by a nation is prohibited
• The targeting of weapons against civilians or hospitals during war is prohibited
• Genocide (i.e., the intentional elimination of a race) is prohibited

2.  How Can Human Rights Be Protected?

2.1  Definition of Human Rights

Human rights are rights to which every person is entitled because she or he is human. In order for us to live in an ethical world, human rights need to be protected. Human rights may also be grouped as follows:

• The human right to be free from government violation of the integrity of the person. This means the right not to be tortured; the right not to suffer cruel, or inhumane punishment; the right not to suffer arbitrary
  arrest or imprisonment; and the right to have a fair public trial.
•  The human right to the fulfillment of basic needs. These needs may include food, shelter, healthcare, and education
• The human right to enjoy civil and political liberties. These include freedom of thought, of religion, or assembly; freedom of speech; freedom of the press; and freedom to move within and outside one’s own country; and freedom to partake in government.

2.2  Sources of Human Rights Abuses

Human rights violations frequently occur all over the world. To protect human rights, we have to combat the sources of human rights violations.  And there are at least two main sources:

• Selfishness. More specifically, people care about themselves and do not care if other people’s human rights are abused. For example, large multi-national corporations may exploit workers’ human rights in order to make a larger profit.
• Not enough knowledge. More specifically, people don’t know that human rights abuses are occurring, and/or how they can help combat such abuses.

2.3  Ways of Protecting Human Rights

• Obey international laws.
  Support organizations that protect human rights. An example of one of the largest such organizations is Amnesty International.
• Act against governments of nations that violate human rights. To act against governments that violate human rights, governments can do as follows:

• • Do not sell military weaponry to nations whose governments violate human rights.
  • Conduct economic sanctions against the country. This means not selling goods to the nation.
  • Conduct a humanitarian intervention. This means use armed forces to try to get members of another nation to protect human rights.

Each of these options just described above can be controversial, though.

Assigned Thought Question 1:

3.  Should Wealthy Nations Provide Foreign Assistance To Poorer Nations?

Assigned Thought Question 2:

Now, this thought question should help you see that when people have limited resources, which was the case with those on the lifeboat, it can be more difficult for people to decide whether to help others. This is because it means that those people who help may have less.

Thinking about this lifeboat example, consider the following question: Do wealthy nations have an obligation to provide economic assistance to poorer nations?

• Position 1: Nations are only obligated to care for their own citizens, and that is what they should do.
• Position 2: It is a good act of charity for wealthy nations to assist economically poorer countries, but there is no obligation to do so.
• Position 3: Wealthy nations are obligated to take care of poorer nations.

If we are to live in an ethical world then I think that Position 3 needs to be taken. There is also an important difference between this question and the one posed by the lifeboat example. In our world, the wealthy nations could survive with less, while in the lifeboat example, if more passengers were allowed on board, then it is not certain that this would help everyone.

4.  When Should Nations Forgive?

Another important issue in global ethics concerns when political leaders and nations who did evil actions should be forgiven by other nations. The following thought question deals with whether German Nazis should be forgiven in some way for what they did during World War II.

Assigned Thought Question 3:

Bibliography:

Mark Amstutz, International Ethics (Lanham: T Rowman and Littlefield, 1999).

Ethics Library

Explore your concerns in ethics at three of the following sites:

Exam