The world we live in is unjust. Preventable deprivation and suffering shape the lives of many
people while others enjoy advantages and privileges aplenty. Cosmopolitan responsibility
addresses the moral responsibilities of privileged individuals to take action in the face of
global structural injustice. Individuals are called upon to complement institutional efforts to
respond to global challenges such as climate change unfair global trade or world poverty.
Committed to an ideal of relational equality among all human beings the book discusses the
impact of individual action the challenge of special obligations and the possibility of moral
overdemandingness in order to lay the ground for an action-guiding ethos of cosmopolitan
responsibility. This thought-provoking book will be of interest to any reflective reader
concerned about justice and responsibilities in a globalised world. Jan-Christoph Heilinger is
a moral and political philosopher. He teaches at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Germany and at Ecole normale supérieure Port-au-Prince Haiti.
