Responding to Global Poverty: Harm, Responsibility, and Agency

✍ Scribed by Christian Barry, Gerhard Øverland

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2016
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 272
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book explores the nature of moral responsibilities of affluent individuals in the developed world, addressing global poverty and arguments that philosophers have offered for having these responsibilities. The first type of argument grounds responsibilities in the ability to avert serious suffering by taking on some cost. The second argument seeks to ground responsibilities in the fact that the affluent are contributing to such poverty. The authors criticise many of the claims advanced by those who seek to ground stringent responsibilities to the poor by invoking these two types of arguments. It does not follow from this that the affluent are meeting responsibilities to the poor. The book argues that while people are not ordinarily required to make large sacrifices in assisting others in severe need, they are required to incur moderate costs to do so. If the affluent fail consistently to meet standards, this fact can substantially increase the costs they are required to bear in order to address it.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
1 Introduction: Assistance-based and Contribution-based Responsibilities to Address Global Poverty
Part I: Assistance-based Responsibilities
2 Assistance-based Responsibilities
3 The Implications of Failing to Assist
4 Assistance-based Responsibilities in the Real World
Part II: Contribution-based Responsibilities
5 The Doing, Allowing and Enabling Distinction
6 Giving Rise to Cost and the Doing, Allowing, Enabling Distinction
7 The Feasible Alternatives Thesis: Pogge on Contribution-based Responsibilities to the Poor
Part III: Implications of Contribution
8 Contribution-based Responsibilities and Trade
9 The Implications of Contributing to Global Poverty
10 Assuming Responsibility for Harm
11 Contribution-based Responsibilities and Overdetermination
Bibliography
Index