Global Justice as the Expression of Fatherly Love?

The article discusses Jason D. Hill’s conception of cosmopolitan democracy as an expression of morally paternalistic Western policy. Hill’s analogy between “burdened societies” (nations, states, cultures) and children is considered to be very questionable. There is no set of pre-given premises on which we could based judgments of the history and “civilization maturity” of human societies. Since the consequences of our social actions are always determined by an image of us in the eyes of others, it is necessary for us to recognize that any conception of the supremacy of Western civilization might be perceived through the “eye-glasses” of the unfortunate history of colonialism and imperialism. The conception of paternalistic global governance presupposes a decision-making process whose legitimacy is freed from any need for consensus. Therefore, there is a danger of ignoring the side effects of paternalistic intervention which might produce new and even worse burdens than those we strive to relieve. We must consider that there is no reasonability without feedback from those affected by our actions. Last but not least, I argue that J. D. Hill’s conception belongs to the tradition of hate for the human body; that body, linked with culture and differentiation, always subverts the full realization of possibilities for the (good) human soul.