Global Justice and Equal Distribution

Abstract

It is often assumed, especially by egalitarian liberals, that questions concerning territorial rights ought to be settled solely on the basis of principles of equal distribution. Strict egalitarians understand international justice as requiring the equal distribution of the earth's natural resources among all the world's inhabitants. Recently, it has been suggested that egalitarian distribution should apply not only to detachable natural resources (e.g. minerals, oil, coal, wild fruit), but also to the earth's surface itself, that is, to land.