Boston Review  |  Jul-Aug 2015
Acting well and doing good is the topic of our forum in this issue. Philosopher Peter Singer endorses a growing philanthropic movement, effective altruism, whose proponents believe that living a morally decent life requires committing a significant percentage of personal income to charity. Indeed, some effective altruists pursue high-paying careers in order
to maximize giving. They believe, too, that they ought to give in ways that maximize impact: do “the most good you can,” as Singer puts it.
Such targeted giving means that philanthropic choices should be guided by measurable results, not warm and fuzzy feelings for identifiable individuals. Some contributors to our forum— from economist Angus Deaton to social entrepreneur Leila Janah—question the efficacy of effective altruism. Others challenge its utilitarian ethics; does it undermine the agency of aid recipients and lead their governments to mistake short-term successes for longterm solutions? Others focus on the agency of the givers: Daron Acemoglu wonders if the movement might eventually change what we think of as a meaningful life. Will we come to judge our lives by the sum of money we’ve
earned and donated to help strangers?
In his reflections on David Brooks’s
new book, The Road to Character, Claude Fischer (“The Problem with David Brooks,” p. 10) suggests other criteria for a meaningful life. Fischer recognizes the individualistic road to virtue that Brooks applauds—and that effective altruists might well endorse—as a deeply American impulse.
Nowhere have Americans struggled more with the imperative of building such institutions than in the arena of racial justice. On the fiftieth anniversary of the Moynihan report, Stephen Steinberg documents just how sharply American liberals turned away from the pursuit of just institutions at the very moment the country seemed most ready to lay their foundations.
Per saperne di più
leggere di meno
Come abbonati riceverete i seguenti vantaggi:
• Uno sconto sul prezzo di vendita della rivista
• La vostra rivista viene consegnata ogni mese sul vostro dispositivo
• Non perderete mai un numero
• Siete protetti dagli aumenti di prezzo che potrebbero verificarsi nel corso dell'anno
Riceverete 4 edizioni durante un periodo di 1 anno Boston Review abbonamento alla rivista.
Nota: le edizioni digitali non includono gli articoli di copertina o i supplementi che si trovano nelle copie stampate.
Articoli in questo numero
Di seguito una selezione di articoli in Boston Review Jul-Aug 2015.