Abstract
ABSTRACTMillions of people in our world are in need of assistance: from the global poor, to refugees, from the victims of natural disasters, to those of violent crimes. What are our responsibilities towards them? Christian Barry and Gerhard Øverland’s answer is plausible and straightforward: we have enforceable duties to assist others in need whenever we can do so ‘at relatively moderate cost to ourselves, and others’. Barry and Øverland defend this answer on the ground that it best fits our intuitions in a variety of hypothetical rescue scenarios. I argue that, although Barry and Øverland’s view is intuitively appealing, appeal to intuitive cases is insufficient to vindicate it satisfactorily. Intuitive cases alone do not allow us to establish: (i) what costs count as moderate and (ii) whether assistance-based responsibilities are, in fact, enforceable. These considerations suggest that Barry and Øverland’s defence of their preferred answer to the assistance question may be incomplete.
Highlights
In Part I of their thought-provoking book, Responding to Global Poverty, Christian Barry and Gerhard Øverland discuss assistance-based responsibilities, namely the responsibilities that we have to help others in need when we are not responsible for their plight
What are our responsibilities towards them? Christian Barry and Gerhard Øverland’s answer is plausible and straightforward: we have enforceable duties to assist others in need whenever we can do so ‘at relatively moderate cost to ourselves, and others’
Moderate is said to be superior to rival views because it best fits our intuitions in a variety of small-scale rescue scenarios, along the lines of Peter Singer’s ‘drowning-child’ case
Summary
In Part I of their thought-provoking book, Responding to Global Poverty, Christian Barry and Gerhard Øverland discuss assistance-based responsibilities, namely the responsibilities that we have to help others in need when we are not responsible for their plight. Intuitive cases alone do not allow us to establish: (i) what costs count as moderate and (ii) whether assistance-based responsibilities are, enforceable.
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