International justice and uncertainty

Abstract

When considering extreme global poverty, uncertainty abounds. We are empirically uncertain: we aren’t 100% certain, for example, about what the causes of extreme poverty are. But we are also morally uncertain: we aren’t 100% certain, for example, about the strength or nature of our obligations to the global poor. I consider just one way in which basic decision‐theoretic reasoning can clarify our thinking regarding international justice. I consider a Poggean argument to the conclusion that there should be sizeable redistribution of wealth from at least some richer nations to poorer nations and show how decision‐theoretic considerations strengthen the argument. I then suggest a heuristic that should guide our response to global poverty in the face of moral uncertainty.