Abstract

This thesis attempts to explain the Rawlsian position about global justice, and the distribution of wealth that he proposes. Going from A Theory of Justice, Political Liberalism , and to The Law of Peoples , this paper will first look at what Rawls considers international relations, and more particularly distributional justice. Is a global principle of justice necessary, or even possible, to guide mutual relations between countries and the assistance that they will bring to each other? The second question that this thesis studies is closely related to the first one. Indeed, at the social level, Rawls is recognized to have proposed a principle of justice called the difference principle , favouring relative equality in the society. The question which then needs to be asked concerns this principle. Is Rawls proposing a similar egalitarian principle of justice at the global scale, as at the domestic level? To reach this goal, several notions have to be exposed. In the first section, the 'Rawlsian background' will be presented. Indeed, Rawls first establishes the principles of social justice in A Theory of Justice . We will consider this basic position, and the brief comment made by Rawls concerning global justice. We will then look at criticisms of his views on the subject. Going toward The Law of Peoples , we will introduce important notions coming from Political Liberalism . Then, The Law of Peoples aims at articulating a more precise understanding of international justice and the redistribution of wealth related to it. We will see that Rawls does not favour the principle of egalitarian redistribution suggested by many. To conclude, my own view on the matter will be introduced.