Speaker Series: Johann Frick

“National Partiality, Immigration, and the Problem of Double-Jeopardy”

ABSTRACT: A foundational conviction of contemporary liberal thought is that all persons matter equally. However, states frequently pursue policies that are strikingly partial towards compatriots over foreigners. A common strategy for justifying this partiality appeals to associative obligations incurred by standing in special relationships with fellow citizens. Such arguments face an important hurdle. I argue for a “Boundary Principle”, according to which special relationships among members of a group cannot justify strong forms of partiality, unless the boundaries of this group can also be justified. Hence, arguments from associative obligations are, by themselves, incomplete. Most states limit migration, and thereby prevent willing people from entering into those relationships with us that would generate associative obligations on our part. A successful defense of national partiality in terms of associative obligations is therefore more closely tied to the question of what restrictions can be placed on immigration than most political philosophers have recognized.

Professor Johann Frick, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and the Center for Human Values, is well know for his work in moral and political philosophy.  He has made important contributions to population ethics and the ethics of risk.