Charles Jones

 Associate Professor

Jones_C

PhD, London School of Economics and Political Science
Telephone: 519.661.2111 ext. 85060
E-mail: cwjones@uwo.ca
Office: Social Science Centre 7213

Research Interests

Professor Jones specializes in contemporary political theory and the history of political thought, with an emphasis on global justice, human rights, freedom, and equality.

Current Research Projects

1. A World of Equals

I am currently writing a book, A World of Equals, in which I undertake three related tasks. First, I describe the problem of distributive justice as it exists for us today. Second, I outline and defend an account of the meaning and moral value of equality. And third, I propose a conception of human rights that adequately addresses the problem of distributive justice and follows from the best conception of equality.

2. The Origin of Human Rights: Four Competing Hypotheses

This article-in-progress evaluates several recent, influential, and competing accounts of the history of human rights by examining their historical arguments in light of two dominant philosophical conceptions of the nature of human rights. My main conclusion is that the plausibility of the historical claims can be determined only by reference to the best understanding of human rights themselves.

Selected Publications

Books

  • 2018: Patriotism (co-authored with Richard Vernon), Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • 2000: The Rights of Nations, (co-edited with Desmond M. Clarke), pp. 269+xvi, New York: Palgrave Macmillian and Cork: Cork University Press.
  • 1999: Global Justice, pp. 244+xiii, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Shorlisted finalist for the C.B. Macpherson Prize, Canadian Political Science Association, best book in political theory over the previous two years. Chinese translation forthcoming, 2014.

Refereed Journal Articles

  • 2013: ‘Cosmopolitan Regard, Motivation, and Multiple Jurisdictions’, Journal of International Political Theory 9 (1): 51-62.
  • 2013: ‘The Human Right to Subsistence’, Journal of Applied Philosophy, Volume 30, Number 1, 57-72.
  • 2012: ‘Cosmopolitanism versus Skepticism’, Analytic Philosophy 53 (1), March, 118-129.
  • 2011: ‘Human Rights and Moral Cosmopolitanism’, in Matt Matravers and Lukas Meyer (eds.), Democracy, Equality, and Justice, London: Routledge. (Reprint of 2010 CRISPP article.)
  • 2010:  ‘Multiculturalism and Cosmopolitanism’, in Duncan Ivison (ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Multiculturalism, Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, 217-32.
  • 2010: ‘Human Rights and Moral Cosmopolitanism’, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Volume 13 (1), 115-135.
  • 2007: 'Institutions with Global Scope: Moral Cosmopolitanism and Political Practice', Canadian Journal of Philosophy, supp. vol. 31, 1-27.
  • 2006: ‘Global Ethics’, Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, Volume 19, no. 2, 213-16.
  • 2004: 'Global Liberalism: Political or Comprehensive?', University of Toronto Law Journal 54 (2004), 227-248.

Book Chapters

  • 2011: ‘Human Rights and Moral Cosmopolitanism’, in Matt Matravers and Lukas Meyer (eds.), Democracy, Equality, and Justice, London: Routledge.
  • 2011: ‘Utilitarianism’, in George Thomas Kurian, James Alt, Geoffrey Garrett, Simone Chambers, Margaret Levi, and Paula McClain (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
  • 2010: ‘Multiculturalism and Cosmopolitanism’, in Duncan Ivison (ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Multiculturalism, Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, 217-32.
  • 2006: ‘Global Distributive Justice’, in Ronald Tinnevelt and Gert Verschraegen (eds.), Between Cosmopolitan Ideals and State Sovereignty, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 13-27.
  • 2005: 'Cosmopolitanism', in William Borchert (ed.), Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Second Edition, New York: Macmillan, Volume 2, 567-570.

Encyclopedia Articles

  • 2014: ‘Kymlicka, Will’, in Diana Coole and Michael Gibbons (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • 2011: ‘Utilitarianism’, in George Thomas Kurian, James Alt, Geoffrey Garrett, Simone Chambers, Margaret Levi, and Paula McClain (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
  • 2005: 'Cosmopolitanism', in William Borchert (ed.), Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Second Edition, New York: Macmillan, Volume 2, 567-570.

Recent Conference Presentations

  • 2013: ‘Understanding Human Rights’, Humanist Association, London, September 11.
  • 2012: ‘Community and Egalitarianism: Luck, Equality, and Society’, Graduate School of Public & International Affairs, University of Ottawa, November 17.
  • 2012: ‘Is There a Human Right to Food?’, Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of Manitoba, March 9.
  • 2011: ‘The Coherence of Iterative Contractualism’, Canadian Political Science Association Conference, Wilfrid Laurier University, May 16-18.
  • 2011: ‘Why Subsistence Rights are Human Rights’, Scottish Colloquium on Human Rights, University of Stirling, Scotland, March 4-5.
  • 2010: ‘Global Harm’, Prairie Political Science Association Conference, Winnipeg, October 1-3.
  • 2009: ‘Is Multiculturalism Bad for Humans? Liberalism Multiculturalism and the Human Rights Revolution’, American Political Science Association Annual Conference, Toronto, September 3-6.

Awards and Distinctions

  • 2009-12: USC Teaching Honour Roll Award of Excellence, awarded by Western’s University Students’ Council for outstanding teaching.
  • 2003-Present: Member, Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy Research Group (Political Science and Philosophy), University of Western Ontario.
  • 2008-09: Winner of the Bank of Nova Scotia, UWO Alumni Association, and University Students' Council Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Western Ontario.
  • 2004-2007: SSHRC Standard Research Grant, Research Project on 'Assessing Cosmopolitanism'.
  • 1999-2000: William H. Orrick Visiting Professorship, Yale University.
  • 1995-98: Guinness Boole Post-Doctoral Fellowship, National University of Ireland.