Social cooperation as a critique of duty: exploring the boundaries of a cosmopolitan approach to fight against poverty

• Grant number: 24/04839-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Ethics
• Principal Investigator: Hélio Alexandre da Silva
• Grantee: Matheus de Vilhena Moraes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/00737-0 - The Social as an Element for Rethinking Poverty: Why Is There No Cooperation in Favor of the Poor?, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

One way to understand contemporary analyses of poverty is through the lens of political philosophy, which has largely favored normative approaches, often overlooking important elements within social dynamics. Thomas Pogge, one of the most relevant contemporary theorists in this field, proposes a cosmopolitan thesis to combat global poverty, based on human rights and the negative duty of justice. However, Pogge's proposal seems to also reproduce a certain marginalization of social dynamics, especially when considering the limits of the notion of social cooperation mobilized by him. Therefore, this research project aims to investigate this aspect of Pogge's theory in order to elucidate his understanding of social cooperation and subsequently critically analyze it from an approach inspired by the works of Franck Fischbach. The French author argues that competition in capitalist society has weakened social cooperation. Thus, to redefine it, he shows that it is essential to rethink the relationship between labor and workers. This is one of the paths, according to Fischbach, that can promote a renewal of social cooperation, autonomy, and democracy, consequently enhancing the critical potential of analyses on poverty. Finally, this project seeks to explore how a more complex notion of social cooperation can both highlight the limitations of Pogge's proposal to combat global poverty and promote a more critical and politically promising understanding of social dynamics and the pursuit of global justice. The guiding question is as follows: How can social cooperation, viewed through the lens of social philosophy, contribute to the critique of a poverty combat proposal guided by a cosmopolitan approach driven by the principle of duty?