ABSTRACT

Human relationships have long been the focus of scholarly attention. Whether it is an examination of the non-instrumental relationships which sustain the quotidian existence of individuals throughout the world, or the more central relationships of power, legitimacy and authority which feature in the development of governmental structures, relationships at a very basic level shape the human experience. It engages with the fragility of the human condition and espouses a commitment to a global community comprised of individual, moral, beings. Charles Beitz, like the communitarian scholars already highlighted, engages with the idea of international sovereignty alongside the possibility of universal human rights. Cosmopolitan discourses, regardless of their origin, represent the chief response to the problems of human suffering and inequality within the theatre of international politics. Moral luck is but one aspect of the human experience that allows for the expression of human vulnerability. Another aspect which demonstrates an individual's potential for tragedy, and therefore suffering, lies in their social nature.