The Ethics of Philanthropy

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4881979
AutoresGeorgina White (Central European University, autor correspondente)
Ano2018
Volume23
Fascículo1-2
Páginas111-126
Data de publicação2018-02-17
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe European Legacy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10848770.2017.1400258
OpenAlexW2771090742
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas16

This essay considers the ancient antecedents to the “new field” of the ethics of philanthropy, arguing that key questions such as “to whom should we give our money?” have already been explored by ancient authors and that the answers they give to these questions can be quite different to the answers given by contemporary scholars. By analysing the treatment of giving in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Cicero’s De Officiis, and Seneca’s De Beneficiis, I argue that the focus of ancient thinkers upon giving within one’s own community can be viewed as a possible response to a number of issues that have been raised by modern scholars, including the “problem of acting at a distance” and the “problem of accountability.” Moreover, these ancient thinkers have additional, positive reasons for thinking that philanthropy should take place within one’s own community, based upon their ideas of man’s natural duty to his political community, and the social benefits that can be derived from local philanthropy. The integration of ancient perspectives, then, into these modern debates, can serve to complement and broaden research in this emerging field

Accountability · Cicero · Duty · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Classics · Ethics in Business and Education · History · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Philosophy · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory