May 3, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The Ethics of Giving and Receiving: Am I My Foolish Brother’s Keeper?
edited by William F. May and A. Lewis Soens Jr.
This book seeks to explore the ethics and meaning of modern-day philanthropy. The collection of essays, prepared for two conferences in 1996 and 1997 sponsored by the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility at Southern Methodist University, discusses the problems and challenges of philanthropic organizations that compete for the same money.
In the introduction, William F. May, one of the book’s editors and a professor of ethics at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, writes that a focus of the book is the tension in choosing between the principle of charity on one hand and the principles of justice, respect for personal autonomy, and avoiding harm, on the other.
The essay from which the book takes its title, by Leon R. Kass, a professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, begins the discussion by arguing that contemporary philanthropic giving has blurred the lines between compassion and justice.
Mr. Kass writes that indiscriminate giving threatens autonomy because it does not require recipients to govern their own behavior or to take responsibility for their actions. Essays by Steven Sverdlik, an associate professor of philosophy; Robin W. Lovin, dean and professor of ethics at the Perkins School of Theology; and Charles E. Curran, a professor of human values, all at Southern Methodist University, respond to Mr. Kass’s comments using historical and contemporary examples and theoretical and practical arguments.
Other essays discuss the psychology of giving; the responsibilities of recipients; coping with limited time and money; setting priorities; accommodating the sometimes conflicting financial responsibilities of donors, boards, staffs, and beneficiaries; interacting with the federal government and other players in philanthropy; balancing the tensions of charity and solidarity; and communicating with people who question whether welfare encourages individual irresponsibility.
Contributors include directors of nonprofit organizations, ethicists, philosophers, and theologians. A. Lewis Soens Jr. is emeritus professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana.
Publisher: Southern Methodist University Press, c/o Texas A&M University Press, 4354 Tamus, College Station, Tex. 77843; (800) 826-8911; http://www.tamu.edu/upress/SMU/smugen.html; 228 pages; $27.50; I.S.B.N. 0-87074-452-6.
