Political Obligation in the World Society

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Jonathan Trejo-Mathys
Boston College

Date: October 2, 2013

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Abstract

Political philosophers have traditionally attempted to show that, provided certain conditions are met, there can be legitimate political authorities whose laws each citizen or subject ought to obey (and whose institutions they ought to support) for moral reasons, and not simply out of fear of punishment or for personal advantage. Beginning with Kant, and moving forward to debates surrounding monistic interpretations of international law and the nature of human rights, Professor Trejo-Mathys will offer some reflections on two different, but probably compatible, Kantian ways to think of political obligation from a world society perspective: one 鈥渇oundationalist,鈥 and one evolutionary, communicative and political.

Speaker Bio

Jonathan Trejo-Mathys聽is an assistant professor of philosophy at Boston College. His research interests lie in social and political philosophy (political authority, political obligation, global justice, transnational democracy), moral philosophy (Kant and the Kantian tradition in ethics and metaethics), and Habermas and the Frankfurt School tradition of "critical social theory." His recent scholarly publications have addressed Habermas and democratic law; Rorty and liberal democracy and religion; and Rawlsian critical theory and the World Trade Organization (forthcoming). He received his PhD in 2009 from Northwestern University.

Event Photos

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Boston College philosophy professor Jonathan Trejo-Mathys at the Boisi Center on October 2, 2013.

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Photos by Christopher Soldt, MTS Photography.

Event Recap

At a Boisi Center luncheon on October 2, Boston College philosophy professor Jonathan Trejo-Mathys discussed how philosophy can help us understand our moral obligations in an increasingly connected world.

In April 2013 an eight-story Bangladeshi textile factory collapsed, killing over 1,100 workers. Recalling the gruesome accident and the dismal working conditions that preceded it, Trejo-Mathys argued that Americans need to better understand how our close business connections to Bangladeshi workers tie us to their safety and welfare. (He himself was wearing a shirt made in that country, Trejo-Mathys noted.) When industrial disasters occur in the United States, such as the 1911 fire that killed nearly 150 workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, Americans frequently strengthen laws that protect workplace safety. Shouldn鈥檛 we be obligated to demand the same for Bangladeshis when we buy the products they make in their factories? Or are the differences in our societies too great to expect American-style worker protections?

To make his case, Trejo-Mathys argued that a 鈥渨orld society鈥 now exists that is rooted in our global interconnectedness and generates moral claims on individuals and groups within that large society. Immanuel Kant properly recognized in the eighteenth century that the 鈥渧iolation of rights in one place on the earth [is] felt everywhere.鈥 In our time, states and corporations will be the primary actors that must bring change, since they are the locus of power in the world today.

Drawing upon Kantian and neo-Kantian arguments about the foundations of moral obligation, Trejo-Mathys refuted schools of thought that deny the existence of international moral norms (鈥淚R realism鈥) or claim such norms to be too thin to be broadly applicable (the 鈥淓nglish School鈥). Neither alternative, he argued, accurately capture the realities of contemporary life, nor provides a solid guide for members of a world society.

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Further Reading

Jonathan Trejo-Mathys, 鈥Authority, Legitimacy and Epistemic Accounts of Democratic Law: Estlund vs. Habermas,鈥 2013.

Jonathan Trejo-Mathys, 鈥,鈥 in聽Philosophy and Social Criticism,聽July 23, 2012.

Jonathan Trejo-Mathys, 鈥,鈥 forthcoming in聽Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory.

Immanuel Kant, 鈥,鈥 and 鈥,鈥 from聽Metaphysics of Morals, both in Pauline Kleingeld, ed., Toward Perpetual Peace聽and Other Writings on Politics, Peace, and History, (New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006).

J眉rgen Habermas, 鈥,鈥 in聽Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory,聽December, 2008.

J眉rgen Habermas, 鈥Does the Constitutionalization of International Law Still Have a Chance?鈥 in聽The Divided West聽 (Malden, MA, Polity, 2006).

George Klosko, 鈥,鈥 in聽Political Theory, March 12, 2009.

Hans Kelsen, 鈥Sovereignty,鈥 in聽Normativity and Norms: Critical Perspectives on Kelsenian Themes聽(Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1998).

Joseph G. Starke, 鈥,鈥 in聽The British Year Book of International Law,聽(London, Oxford University Press, 1936).

Edward Rothstein, 鈥,鈥 in聽The New York Times, January 9, 2006.

Tyler Cowen, 鈥,鈥 in聽The New York Times, March 16, 2013.

Joseph O鈥橬eil, 鈥,鈥 in聽The Atlantic,聽August 1, 2009.

In the News

October 8聽, in which at least 10 people died and dozens were injured, raises questions about the obligation of individuals, states, and corporations to improve working conditions in the developing world. On October 2, 精东影业 philosophy professor聽Jonathan Trejo-Mathys聽discussed political obligation in an increasingly interconnected, international world society.