There are two approaches to morality. The realistic approach wants to avoid too large a gap between the ought and the is and focuses on what it is possible given existing realities. This approach, however, inhibits us from challenging fundamentally unjust institutions and policies. The idealistic approach, in contrast, requires us to assess current reality in light of our highest ideals. Its weakness is that it may not help us answer the question of how to act in this non-ideal world. Discussions about the ethics of migration require a full range of perspectives using both approaches.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BauböckR.1994Transnational Citizenship: Membership and Rights in International Migration. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
2.
BuchananA.1990“Justice as Reciprocity versus Subject-Centered Justice,”Philosophy and Public Affairs, 19(3):227–252.
3.
CarensJ.1994“The Rights of Immigrants.”In Group Rights. Ed. BakerJ.Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Pp. 142–163.
4.
CarensJ.1989“Membership and Morality: Admission to Citizenship in Liberal Democratic States.”In Immigration and the Politics of Citizenship in Europe and North America. Ed. BrubakerW.R.Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Pp. 31–49.
5.
CarensJ.1987“Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open Borders,”Review of Politics, 49:251–273.
6.
FishkinJ.1982The Limits of Obligation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
7.
HathawayJ.1990“A Reconsideration of the Underlying Premise of Refugee Law,”Harvard International Law Journal31(1):129–183.
8.
HirschF.1978Social Limits to Growth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
9.
HoffmannS.1981Duties beyond Borders. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
10.
MartinD.1991“The Refugee Concept: On Definitions, Politics, and the Careful Use of a Scarce Resource.”In Refugee Policy: Canada and the United States. Ed. AdelmanH.Toronto: York Lanes Press. Pp. 30–51.
11.
RawlsJ.1971A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
12.
ShacknoveA.1985“Who Is a Refugee?”Ethics, 95:274–284.
13.
SidgwickH.1981Methods of Ethics. Indianapolis, IN: Harkett. (Orig. publ. 1907)
14.
WalzerM.1987Interpretation and Social Criticism.New York: Basic Books.
15.
WalzerM.1983Spheres of Justice.New York: Basic Books.
16.
WalzerM.1973“Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands,”Philosophy and Public Affairs, 2:62–82. Winter
17.
WeberM.1946“Politics as a Vocation.”In From Max Weber. Ed. Gerth and MillsC.W.New York: Oxford University Press. (Orig. publ. 1921). Pp. 77–128.
18.
WeinerM.1995The Global Migration Crisis.New York: Harper Collins.
