| Distant Strangers: Ethics, Psychology, and Global Poverty Contributor(s): Lichtenberg, Judith (Author) |
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ISBN: 052112462X ISBN-13: 9780521124621 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $33.24 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: December 2013 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | Ethics & Moral Philosophy - Business & Economics | Business Ethics |
| Dewey: 174.9 |
| LCCN: 2013017184 |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 6" W x 8.9" (0.90 lbs) 285 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: What must affluent people do to alleviate global poverty? This question has occupied moral and political philosophers for forty years. But the controversy has reached an impasse: approaches like utilitarianism and libertarianism either demand too much of ordinary mortals or else let them off the hook. In Distant Strangers Judith Lichtenberg shows how a preoccupation with standard moral theories and with the concepts of duty and obligation have led philosophers astray. She argues that there are serious limits to what can be demanded of ordinary human beings, but this does not mean we must abandon the moral imperative to reduce poverty. Drawing on findings from behavioral economics and psychology, she shows how we can motivate better-off people to lessen poverty without demanding unrealistic levels of moral virtue. Lichtenberg argues convincingly that this approach is not only practically, but morally, appropriate. |
Contributor Bio(s): Lichtenberg, Judith: - Judith Lichtenberg is Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. She is editor of Democracy and the Mass Media (1990) and co-author of Leveling the Playing Field: Justice, Politics, and College Admissions (with Robert K. Fullinwider, 2004). |
