ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by discussing the general question of whether philosophers have obligations to distant strangers who live under different governments. It turns to some substantive problems: global poverty, immigration, war and terrorism, and the global environment. Thomas Pogge has argued persuasively that both global economic and global political arrangements are organized to benefit the members of rich nations, and that this creates undue harm for the members of developing nations. The chapter argues that a number of moral perspectives and general views about obligation commit us to saying that rich countries have obligations to the people in developing countries. The issue of immigration is closely aligned to the issue of global poverty because global poverty is perhaps the major reason why immigration is such a potent issue. The chapter looks at worldviews about the relation between humans and the natural environment. It discusses the three general categories: domination views, stewardship views, and holistic views.
