Public Ethics Radio: Christopher Heath Wellman on Immigration and Citizenship

Nov 3, 2009

From education and health care, to access to credit and the rule of law, a host of factors that influence quality of life depend simply on which side of a border a person is born on. Yet what could be more arbitrary, morally speaking, than where a person happens to be born?

There is no denying that international borders—coercively upheld and protected-are a huge factor in determining the distribution of wealth and opportunities throughout the world. From education and health care, to access to credit and the rule of law, a host of factors that influence quality of life depend simply on which side of a border a person is born on.

Yet what could be more arbitrary, morally speaking, than where a person happens to be born? And why is it that inequality and poverty traceable back to this factor is generally considered less objectionable than deprivations that result from factors such as race, ethnicity or gender?

To get a grip on these questions, Public Ethics Radio discussed immigration and citizenship policies with Christopher Heath Wellman.

Wellman is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, and a Professorial Research Fellow at Charles Sturt University in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, an Australian Research Council Special Research Centre. His views on immigration are also set out in his recent, "Immigration and Freedom of Association," Ethics 119, no. 1 (2008): 109-141.

You may also like

Dr. Strangelove War Room. CREDIT: IMDB/Columbia Pictures

DEC 10, 2024 Article

Ethics on Film: Discussion of "Dr. Strangelove"

This review explores ethical issues around nuclear weapons and non-proliferation, the military-industrial complex, and the role of political satire in Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove."

DEC 3, 2024 Article

Child Poverty and Equality of Opportunity for Children in the United States

This final project from the first CEF cohort discusses the effects of child poverty in the United States and ethical solutions to help alleviate this ...

DEC 2, 2024 Article

Global Ethics Day 2024 Reaches New Heights with Participation Across 70 Countries

On October 16, 2024, hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals across nearly 70 countries celebrated the 11th annual Global Ethics Day.

Not translated

This content has not yet been translated into your language. You can request a translation by clicking the button below.

Request Translation