Responsibility in an Interconnected World: International Assistance, Duty, and Action (Studies in Global Justice Book 13)

This monograph opens with an examination of the aid industry and the claims of leading practitioners that the industry is experiencing a crisis of confidence due to an absence of clear moral guidelines. The book then undertakes a critical review of the leading philosophical accounts of the duty to aid, including the narrow, instructive accounts in the writings of John Rawls and Peter Singer, and broad, disruptive accounts in the writings of Onora O’Neill and Amartya Sen. Through an elaboration of the elements of interconnection, responsible action, inclusive engagement, and accumulative duties, the comparative approach developed in the book has the potential to overcome the philosophical tensions between the accounts and provide guidance to aid practitioners, donors and recipients in the complex contemporary circumstances of assistance. __Informed by real world examples, this book grapples with complex and multi-dimensional questions concerning practices and the ethics of aid. The author judiciously guides us through the debate between deontological and consequentialist moral theories to arrive at a sophisticated consequentialist account that does justice to the complexity of the problems and facilitates our deliberation in discharging our duty to aid, without yielding, as it should not, a determinate answer for each specific situation. Researchers, students, and practitioners of international aid will all find this book rewarding.__ Win-chiat Lee, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Wake Forest University __Susan Murphy’s book offers us a sophisticated exploration of the philosophical basis for aid. It is grounded in a full understanding of the complexities and pitfalls of the aid industry, but its particular strength lies, mainly through an extensive discussion of Singer, Rawls, O’Neill and Sen, in a comparison of consequentialist and duty-based approaches, eventually endorsing a broad non-idealised, situated consequentialist account in what she calls an interconnected ethical approach to the practice of assistance. For anyone wanting to think carefully about why we should give aid, this book has much to offer.__Dr Nigel Dower Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen Author of World Ethics – the New Agenda (2007) Preface 8 Acknowledgements 12 Contents 14 Introduction 18 The Idea and Promise of Assistance 18 The Problem 26 Methodology 27 Scope 29 Argument 30 Chapter Structure 31 References 35 Chapter 1: The Assistance Industry – Crisis and Change 38 1.1 Introduction 38 1.2 The ‘Assistance Industry’ 40 1.2.1 Humanitarian Assistance 42 1.2.1.1 Objectives and Operating Norms of Humanitarian Assistance 44 1.2.2 Development Assistance 46 1.2.2.1 Objectives and Operating Norms of Development Assistance 48 1.3 Is the Assistance Industry in Crisis? 51 1.3.1 Complexity 52 1.3.2 Multiplicity 57 1.3.3 Uncertainty of Outcomes of Assistance 59 1.3.4 Implications of Complexity, Multiplicity, and Uncertainty 60 1.4 Contemporary Circumstances of Assistance 61 1.4.1 Moral Dimensions: Bounded Affiliations and the Reach of Morality 61 1.4.2 Epistemic Dimensions: Need, Complexity, Connections 62 1.4.3 Practical Dimensions: Uncertainty of Outcomes and Unintended Harms 63 1.4.4 Review 64 1.5 Underlying Philosophical Problems 65 1.6 Conclusion 67 References 68 Chapter 2: Contemporary Ethical Approaches to the Practice of Assistance and Foundational Accounts of Moral Duty 71 2.1 Introduction 71 2.2 Deontological Ethics and Assistance 73 2.2.1 Barnett and Snyder’s Characterisation of Deontological Ethics 73 2.2.2 Foundational Deontological Account of Moral Duty 74 2.2.3 Connections and Distinctions 77 2.2.3.1 Exclusion of Ends and Outcomes 77 2.2.3.2 Insensitivity to Harm 78 2.2.3.3 Deontological Ethics as Conservative and Rigid 79 2.2.4 Objections 80 2.2.4.1 ‘Classical Humanitarianism’ and Deontological Ethics 80 2.2.4.2 Conceptual Confusion 81 2.3 Consequentialist Ethics and Assistance 82 2.3.1 Barnett and Snyder’s Characterisation of Consequentialist Ethics 82 2.3.2 Foundational Consequentialist Account of Moral Duty 83 2.3.3 A Consequentialist Turn? 85 2.3.4 Connections and Distinctions 87 2.3.4.1 Case of Uncomfortable Trade-Offs 87 2.3.4.2 Flexibility in the Selection of Act-Types and Courses of Action 88 2.3.4.3 ‘Back a Decent Winner Approach’ and Consequentialist Ethics 89 2.3.5 Objections 89 2.3.5.1 Consequentialism and Deontology Misconceived 89 2.3.5.2 Conceptual Confusion 90 2.4 Tensions Between the Great Traditions 91 2.5 Conclusion 93 References 94 Chapter 3: Contemporary Philosophical Faces of Deontology and Consequentialism – John Rawls and Peter Singer 96 3.1 Introduction 96 3.2 Rawls’s Contractualist Deontological Account 98 3.2.1 Background 98 3.2.2 Moral Dimensions 102 3.2.3 Epistemic Dimensions 106 3.2.4 Practical Dimensions 110 3.3 Singer’s (Utilitarian) Consequentialist Account 111 3.3.1 Background 112 3.3.2 Moral Dimensions 113 3.3.3 Epistemic Dimensions 116 3.3.4 Practical Dimensions 118 3.4 Conclusion 120 References 121 Chapter 4: The ‘Terrible Beauty’ of Imperfect Duties – Onora O’Neill and Amartya Sen on the Duty of Assistance 123 4.1 Introduction 123 4.2 O’Neill’s Approach to the Practice of Ethics 125 4.2.1 Background 125 4.2.2 The Moral Basis of Duty 127 4.2.3 Approach to Practical Reasoning 128 4.2.4 The Imperfect Duty of Assistance 129 4.2.5 Contemporary Circumstances of Assistance 130 4.2.5.1 Moral Dimensions 130 4.2.5.2 Epistemic Dimensions 131 4.2.5.3 Practical Dimensions 133 4.3 Sen’s Consequentialist Comparative Approach 133 4.3.1 Background 133 4.3.2 The Moral Basis of Duty 136 4.3.3 Approach to Practical Reasoning 136 4.3.4 The Imperfect Duty of Assistance 138 4.3.5 Contemporary Circumstances of Assistance 139 4.3.5.1 Moral Dimensions 139 4.3.5.2 Epistemic Dimensions 139 4.3.5.3 Practical Dimensions 143 4.4 Conclusion 143 References 144 Chapter 5: Adjudicating Between O’Neill and Sen on Assistance 146 5.1 Introduction 146 5.2 The Moral Basis of the Duty of Assistance 148 5.2.1 O’Neill and the Moral Basis of the Duty of Assistance 148 5.2.2 Sen and the Moral Basis of the Duty of Assistance 153 5.3 Practical Reasoning and Claims to Authoritative Actions 157 5.3.1 O’Neill on Practical Reason 157 5.3.2 Sen on Practical Reason 159 5.4 Facilitating an Action-Based Approach 162 5.4.1 O’Neill and the Limits and Extent of the Duty of Assistance 162 5.4.2 Sen and the Limits and Extent of the Duty of Assistance 163 5.5 Weighing and Testing the Balance of Evidence 164 5.6 Conclusion 165 References 167 Chapter 6: Defending an Interconnected Ethical Account of Assistance 169 6.1 Introduction 169 6.2 Exposition of the ‘Interconnected Ethical Approach’ 172 6.2.1 Responsibility and Responsible Action 175 6.2.2 Inclusive Engagement 177 6.2.3 Accumulative Duties 178 6.3 Philosophical Objections 178 6.3.1 The Charge of Misconception 179 6.3.2 Over-Burdened? 181 6.3.3 Action Guiding or a Recipe for Inaction? 182 6.3.4 The Problem of Agent-Based Duties: Indeterminacy and Agent Latitude 184 6.4 Conclusion 186 References 187 Chapter 7: Implications for Practice & Policy 188 7.1 Introduction 188 7.2 Reflecting on Real-World Cases 191 7.2.1 The Haitian Cholera Crisis 192 7.2.2 The Somalia Food Crisis 194 7.3 Agents, Actors, and Institutions 196 7.3.1 Mediating Institutions and Actors 198 7.3.2 Responsibility for Actions 199 7.3.3 Accountability, Transparency, and Engagement in Public Reason 200 7.3.4 Interconnecting Ethical Action: The Practice of Just Assistance 201 7.3.5 Bridging the Gap: Linking Humanitarian and Development Policy & Practice 202 7.4 Conclusion 203 References 203 This monograph opens with an examination of the aid industry and the claims of leading practitioners that the industry is experiencing a crisis of confidence due to an absence of clear moral guidelines. The book then undertakes a critical review of the leading philosophical accounts of the duty to aid, including the narrow, instructive accounts in the writings of John Rawls and Peter Singer, and broad, disruptive accounts in the writings of Onora OĺlNeill and Amartya Sen. Through an elaboration of the elements of interconnection, responsible action, inclusive engagement, and accumulative duties, the comparative approach developed in the book has the potential to overcome the philosophical tensions between the accounts and provide guidance to aid practitioners, donors and recipients in the complex contemporary circumstances of assistance. Informed by real world examples, this book grapples with complex and multi-dimensional questions concerning practices and the ethics of aid. The author judiciously guides us through the debate between deontological and consequentialist moral theories to arrive at a sophisticated consequentialist account that does justice to the complexity of the problems and facilitates our deliberation in discharging our duty to aid, without yielding, as it should not, a determinate answer for each specific situation. Researchers, students, and practitioners of international aid will all find this book rewarding. Win-chiat Lee, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Wake Forest University Susan Murphyĺls book offers us a sophisticated exploration of the philosophical basis for aid. It is grounded in a full understanding of the complexities and pitfalls of the aid industry, but its particular strength lies, mainly through an extensive discussion of Singer, Rawls, OĺlNeill and Sen, in a comparison of consequentialist and duty-based approaches, eventually endorsing a broad non-idealised, situated consequentialist account in what she calls an interconnected ethical approach to the practice of assistance. For anyone wanting to think carefully about why we should give aid, this book has much to offer. Dr Nigel Dower Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen Author of World Ethics ĺl the New Agenda (2007) Front Matter....Pages i-xxxvi The Assistance Industry – Crisis and Change....Pages 1-33 Contemporary Ethical Approaches to the Practice of Assistance and Foundational Accounts of Moral Duty....Pages 35-59 Contemporary Philosophical Faces of Deontology and Consequentialism – John Rawls and Peter Singer....Pages 61-87 The ‘Terrible Beauty’ of Imperfect Duties – Onora O’Neill and Amartya Sen on the Duty of Assistance....Pages 89-111 Adjudicating Between O’Neill and Sen on Assistance....Pages 113-135 Defending an Interconnected Ethical Account of Assistance....Pages 137-155 Implications for Practice & Policy....Pages 157-173