Debating the Ethics of Immigration: Is There a Right to Exclude?

by Christopher Heath Wellman, Phillip Cole

Overview

Do states have the right to prevent potential immigrants from crossing their borders, or should people have the freedom to migrate and settle wherever they wish? Christopher Heath Wellman and Phillip Cole develop and defend opposing answers to this timely and important question. Appealing to the right to freedom of association, Wellman contends that legitimate states have broad discretion to exclude potential immigrants, even those who desperately seek to enter. Against this, Cole argues that the commitment to the moral equality of all human beings - which legitimate states can be expected to hold - means national borders must be open: equal respect requires equal access, both to territory and membership; and that the idea of open borders is less radical than it seems when we consider how many territorial and community boundaries have this open nature. In addition to engaging with each other's arguments, Wellman and Cole address a range of central questions and prominent positions on this topic. The authors therefore provide a critical overview of the major contributions to the ethics of migration, as well as developing original, provocative positions of their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199731725
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/30/2011
Series:	Debating Ethics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Christopher Heath Wellman is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis and Professorial Fellow at CAPPE, Charles Sturt University. He works in ethics, specializing in political and legal philosophy. His most recent book, coauthored with Andrew Altman, is A Liberal Theory of International Justice.

Phillip Cole is Professor of Applied Philosophy at the University of Wales, Newport. He has written extensively on the ethics of migration, including Philosophies of Exclusion: Liberal Political Theory and Immigration. He is currently writing a book on the ethics of emigration.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE
In Defense of the Right to Exclude
The Egalitarian Case for Open Borders
The Libertarian Case for Open Borders
The Democratic Case for Open Borders
The Utilitarian Case for Open Borders
Refugees
Toward an International Institution with Authority of Immigration
Guest Workers
Selection Criteria
Conclusion
OPEN BORDERS: AN ETHICAL DEFENCE
The Shape of the Debate
The Case Against the Right to Exclude
Wellman on Freedom of Association
Consequentialist Concerns
Towards a Right to Mobility
Conclusion
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Wellman and Cole have written a deeply useful book.... They display an admirable sense of how to disagree with grace and dignity; the book is a model for how to disagree, even about foundational moral issues, without resorting to invective or ridicule. Indeed, the book might be shows to advanced undergraduates to learn the craft of respectful disagreement. The arguments are well-crafted and well-presented. The book is sufficiently pruned of unnecessary technical terminology that it might easily serve as a text for undergraduate classes, but the arguments are sophisticated enough to repay the reading of professionals."—Michael Blake, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"A very fine treatment of an important, timely topic. Highly recommended."—D.B. Boersema, CHOICE

"Evaluates arguments regarding open borders and defends two opposing views."—The Chronicle Review

From the Publisher