Being Good in a World of Need (Uehiro Series in Practical Ethics)

Ours is a rich world filled with misery. This gives rise to a pressing question: how should the well-off respond to the needy? Peter Singer famously argued that just as we have an obligation to save a drowning child, we have an obligation to support charities like Oxfam. Inspired by Singer, Effective Altruism holds that we ought to support those charities doing the most good. Being Good in a World of Need powerfully challenges these views. Drawing on many sources, Temkin illustrates many disanalogies between saving a drowning child and supporting international charities, involving: intervening agents; effects of one’s actions; corruption; responsibility; accidents versus injustice; and aid beneficiaries. These disanalogies raise complex issues requiring a pluralistic approach, rather than Effective Altruism’s monistic, “do the most good” approach. Being Good discusses: ways aid may reward corrupt leaders and incentivize disastrous policies; charities ignoring or covering up negative impacts; the ethical disaster of aid efforts in Goma; brain and character drains; difficulties in replicability or scaling up model aid projects; ethical imperialism, paternalism, autonomy, and respect; Angus Deaton’s contention that aid undermines government responsiveness; Jeffrey Sachs and the Millennium Villages Project; conflicts between individual and collective morality; fairness and responsibility; focusing on badly off people rather than countries; humanitarian versus development aid; and ways of aiding other than on-the-ground charities. Being Good reinforces Temkin’s longstanding view that, morally, the well-off can’t ignore the needy. Unfortunately, what one should do given that truth is much more complex, and murky, than most have realized. In a world filled with both enormous wealth and pockets of great devastation, how should the well-off respond to the world's needy? This is the urgent central question of Being Good in a World of Need. Larry S. Temkin, one of the world's foremost ethicists, challenges common assumptions about philanthropy, his own prior beliefs, and the dominant philosophical positions of Peter Singer and Effective Altruism. Filled with keen analysis and insightful discussions of philosophy, current events, development economics, history, literature, and age-old wisdom, this book is a thorough and sobering exploration of the complicated ways that global aid may incentivize disastrous policies, reward corruption, and foster “brain drains” that hinder social and economic development. Using real-world examples and illuminating thought experiments, Temkin discusses ethical imperialism, humanitarian versus developmental aid, how charities ignore or coverup negative impacts, replicability and scaling-up problems, and the views of the renowned economists Angus Deaton and Jeffrey Sachs, all within the context of deeper philosophical issues of fairness, responsibility, and individual versus collective morality. At times both inspiring and profoundly disturbing, he presents the powerful argument that neglecting the needy is morally impermissible, even as he illustrates that the path towards helping others is often fraught with complex ethical and practical perils. Steeped in empathy, morality, pathos, and humanity, this is an engaging and eye-opening text for any reader who shares an intense concern for helping others in need. "Ours is a rich world filled with misery. This gives rise to a pressing question: how should the well-off respond to the needy? Peter Singer famously argued that just as we have an obligation to save a drowning child, we have an obligation to support charities like Oxfam. Inspired by Singer, Effective Altruism holds that we ought to support those charities doing the most good. Being Good in a World of Need powerfully challenges these views. Drawing on many sources, Temkin illustrates many disanalogies between saving a drowning child and supporting international charities, involving: intervening agents; effects of one's actions; corruption; responsibility; accidents versus injustice; and aid beneficiaries. These disanalogies raise complex issues requiring a pluralistic approach, rather than Effective Altruism's monistic, "do the most good" approach. Being Good discusses: ways aid may reward corrupt leaders and incentivize disastrous policies; charities ignoring or covering up negative impacts; the ethical disaster of aid efforts in Goma; brain and character drains; difficulties in replicability or scaling up model aid projects; ethical imperialism, paternalism, autonomy, and respect; Angus Deaton's contention that aid undermines government responsiveness; Jeffrey Sachs and the Millennium Villages Project; conflicts between individual and collective morality; fairness and responsibility; focusing on badly off people rather than countries; humanitarian versus development aid; and ways of aiding other than on-the-ground charities"-- Provided by publisher How should the well-off respond to the world's needy? Renowned ethicist Larry S. Temkin challenges common beliefs about philanthropy and Effective Altruism, exploring the complex ways that global aid may do more harm than good, and considers the alternatives available when neglecting the needy is morally impermissible