Download of the Week
The Download of the Week is Humanitarian Intervention as a Perfect Duty. A Kantian Argument by Carla Bagnoli. Here is a taste:
- Conclusion: I have attempted to show that in constructing a moral case for humanitarian intervention based on the defense of human rights, we are bound to recognize it as a duty rather than permission, and as a perfect duty rather than an imperfect one—a duty that proceeds from respect for humanity rather than from charity. This qualification implies that the gross violation of human rights calls for intervention and that a state that grossly violates the human rights of its citizens is outlaw and has no right not to be interfered with. To qualify humanitarian intervention as a strict duty does not settle the issue of proper authority, but it encourages us to rethink the ground of proper authority and the institutionalization of moral responsibility. My conviction is that when human rights are at stake, the whole international community must respond, and only an international organization can have the proper authority to do that. How exactly to design such an international institution is something that falls well beyond the scope of competence of a moral philosopher; so I should leave the matter at this point.
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