Being good in a world of need / Larry S. Temkin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Temkin, Larry S., author.

Series:

Uehiro series in practical ethics.

Uehiro series in practical ethics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics.

Humanitarianism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxx, 387 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England : Oxford University Press, 2022

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Cover

Series page

Being Good in a World of Need

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgment

Epigraph

1: Introduction

1.1 A Rich World with Pockets of Devastation

1.2 The Audiences for This Book

1.3 Methodological Remarks and Preliminary Comments

1.4 Intuitions

1.5 Terminology

1.6 The Assumption of Innocence

1.7 Effective Altruism

1.8 Overview of the Book

1.9 Final Remarks

2: Global Need: My Longtime Commitment and Earlier Views

2.1 A Lifelong Concern about the Needy

2.2 A Pluralistic Approach to the Needy-and the Ease of Givin

3: Singer's Pond Example and Some Worries about Effective Altruism

3.1 Singer's Pond Example and Two Variations

3.2 Support for Pluralism-Reasons to Worry about Strict Utilitarian Versions of Effective Altruism and Important Limits on the Pond Example's Implications

3.3 Implications of Pond Examples for Non-Utilitarian Versions of Effective Altruism

3.4 Being Virtuous and Avoiding One Thought Too Many

3.5 Agent-Relative Duties to Aid and the Ethical Significance of Direct Confrontation with Another in Need

3.6 Dramatic Rescues, Large-Scale Disasters, and Effective Altruism

3.7 Effective Altruism, Personal Involvement, and Integrity

3.8 Morally Problematic Relations in Aid Giving

3.9 Personal versus Political Domains

3.10 Concluding Remarks

4: Direct versus Indirect Aid

4.1 Ground Clearing: Community Membership, Proximity, and Cultural Differences

4.2 Expert Observers and Intervening Agents⁷

4.3 Saving Lives versus Supporting Effective Aid Organizations

4.4 Summary

5: The Dark Side of Humanity, Part I: Worries about Internal Corruption

5.1 The Dark Side of Humanity

5.2 Two Responses to the Worry about Internal Corruption and Why They Are Problematic

5.3 See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.

5.4 Partners in Crime, a Concluding Remark

6: The Dark Side of Humanity, Part II: Worries about External Corruption

6.1 The Worry about External Corruption

6.2 Two Responses to the Worry about External Corruption

6.3 Learning to Live with Corruption?

6.4 Brief Summary and Concluding Remark

7: The Dark Side of Humanity, Part III: Where Evil Walks

7.1 Social Injustice, Unjust "Victims," and the Beneficiaries of Suffering

7.2 Dealing with the Devil

7.3 The Problem of Dirty Hand

7.4 Blurry Lines

7.5 Goma

7.6 Summary

8: Marketplace Distortions and Human Capital

8.1 Global Health and the Problem of Brain Drain

8.2 Global Aid and the Problem of Internal Brain and Character Drain

8.3 Global Aid and the Problem of External Brain and Character Drain

8.4 Summary and Final Remark

9: Model Projects and the Difficulty of Predicting Future Success

9.1 The Uniqueness of Each Circumstance and Unforeseen Developments

9.2 The Problem of Scaling Up

9.3 The Rice School-A Cautionary Tale

9.4 An Effective Altruist's Response and Some Reasons to Take It with a Grain of Salt

9.5 Summary

10: Ethical Imperialism: Some Worries about Paternalism, Autonomy, and Respect

10.1 Remembering Colonialism

10.2 Some Worries about Thinking We Know Better-Even If We Are Right

10.3 Money Talks

10.4 Final Remark

11: On the Relation between Aid, Governance, and Human Flourishing: Deaton's Worry

11.1 Has Singer Done More Harm than Good?

11.2 On the Importance of Good Governance

11.3 Ways in which Aid Efforts May Undermine Good Governance

11.4 Jeffrey Sachs and the Millennium Villages Project

11.5 Summary and Some Suggestive Data

12: Individual versus Collective Rationality and Morality: A Troubling Possibility.

12.1 One Natural Response to Deaton's Worry: The Importance of Effective Altruism

12.2 Each/We Dilemmas: The Possibility of Conflict between Individual and Collective Rationality

12.3 Each/We Dilemmas: The Possibility of Conflict between Individual and Collective Morality

12.4 The Plausibility of Anti-Additive-Aggregationist Principles

12.5 How Anti-Additive-Aggregationist Principles Give Rise to Consequentialist Each/We Dilemmas

12.6 Is Good Communication a Solution for Consequentialist Each/We Dilemmas?

12.7 Reconsidering Deaton's View-A Troubling Possibility

12.8 Challenging Two Assumptions

12.9 Summary

13: Further Objections to Deaton's Worry and Some Responses

13.1 Singer's Response to My Defense of Deaton

13.2 Challenging the Scope of Deaton's Worry

13.3 A Deontological Gloss on Deaton's Worry

13.4 A Pluralist Response to Deaton's Worry

13.5 Final Remarks Regarding Deaton's Worry

14: Responsibility and Fairness: Further Support for a Pluralistic Approach to Global Aid

14.1 Pogge and the Importance of Responsibility

14.2 Fairness

14.3 Final Thoughts

15: Taking Stock, Clarifications, and Further Thoughts

15.1 Reassessing Singer's Approach to Global Need

15.2 Reassessing Effective Altruism's Approach to Global Need

15.3 Effective Altruism as a Clarion Call to Practical Action

15.4 Important Clarifications and Caveats

15.5 Taking Expected Utility Theory Seriously

15.6 Summary

16: Conclusion

16.1 Summary

16.2 How Dare I Write This Book

16.3 Paths Needing Further Exploration

16.4 Whither from Here?

APPENDIX A: How Expected Utility Theory Can Drive Us Off the Rails

APPENDIX B: On the Irrelevance of Proximity or Distance for Morality

Bibliography

Index

List of Principles and Examples.

Notes:

This edition also issued in print: 2022.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Temkin, Larry S. Being Good in a World of Need

ISBN:

0-19-266698-3

0-19-194512-9

0-19-266699-1

OCLC:

1292360638