Responsibility in an Interconnected World: International Assistance, Duty, and Action
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| Anteprima |
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.
