The Challenges of Beneficence: Revising the Terms
Barbara Herman, University of California, Los Angeles
October 24, 2019 · 4:30 pm—6:00 pm · 101 Friend Center
The University Center for Human Values
James A. Moffett ’29 Lectures in Ethics
Familiar accounts of beneficence take as its target human need. If, as is the case in our world, need is very large, the duty threatens to be demanding, interfering with our lives and our relationships. Working from some Kantian insights and arguments, I lay out an alternative view of the duty, focused on a person’s ends rather than her needs, that points towards three distinct duties to provide assistance, not one. The upshot may (or may not) be demanding, but not in a way that is objectionably interfering.
Free and Open to the Public
