Doctoral Fellow, 2008-09 | Department of Philosophy

Doctoral Candidate, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto.

Doug is currently completing his dissertation on the question of the subject of distributive justice. In contrast to theorists who claim that distributive justice is about the promotion of certain values, for example equality or well-being, or theorists who claim that distributive justice is about the distribution of the benefits and burdens of social cooperation, Doug argues that distributive justice is fundamentally about the relation of the state to its citizens. Two important implications follow from this claim. First, persons only possess distributive obligations as citizens of a state, and only possess these obligations towards their fellow citizens. In short, states and individuals do not possess global obligations of distributive justice, but only moral duties to aid. Second, Doug argues that his claim regarding the subject of distributive justice has important implications for the role that the central institutions of private right, private property and contract play within a theory of distributive justice. The reasons for thinking that distributive justice is fundamentally about the state’s relation to its citizens also give us reasons to respect the integrity of these institutions to a greater degree than distributive theorists currently do.

Doug completed his BA at the University of Victoria. His broader research interests lie in ethics, philosophy of law, and Kant. He has taught courses in contemporary political philosophy and philosophy of law and has presented papers at the Atlantic Region Philosophers Association and the Canadian Philosophical Association.