Philosophy 2810F/G Chapter Notes -Deontic Logic, Public Culture
25 Jul 2012
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The second proposition contained in the idea of nationality is that nations are ethical communities. A powerful humanitarian sentiment every human being should matter equally to us. How can it be right to give priority or special treatment to some human beings just because they are tied to us by the kind of bonds identified. Ethical universalism gives us a certain picture of what ethics is about, the elements of which are individuals with their generic human capacities. Because the principles are to be universal in form, only general facts about other individuals can serve to determine my duties towards them. Relational facts about some relationship in which he already stands to me, cannot enter the picture at this fundamental level. An ethical universalist may well want to argue that at a less fundamental level facts such as these should count in determining my duty to be brought in by means of an argument showing why.
