Philanthropisms Ted Lechterman: The philosophy of philanthropy
Feb 6, 2025
51:00
In this episode we talk to political philosopher Ted Lechterman about why philanthropy should be an important topic of study for philosophers, and what some of the key questions a philosophical approach raises are. Including:
- Why is a philosophical perspective on philanthropy valuable/important?
- Is there a danger that philosophical critiques of philanthropy too often confine themselves to the realms of ideal theory, or fall into the trap of comparing worst-case examples of philanthropy with idealized conceptions of the alternatives (e.g. government)?
- Are there substantive qualitative differences between the giving of everyday donors and the giving of the very wealthy, or do the same critical arguments apply to both (albeit perhaps to different degrees)?
- Should philanthropy be seen as supererogatory (once the demands of law, justice, social contract etc have been met through taxation?) or should we understand some (or all) philanthropic giving as a form of duty too?
- Is philanthropy to some extent a product of structural inequality and injustice, and does this limit its utility as a means of delivering structural reform/injustice?
- Do the demands of justice apply to all philanthropy, or just a subset? (i.e. is there room for philanthropic choices that do not meet this criterion? E.g. if a donor has given substantially to justice-furthering causes, is it acceptable for there to be some supererogatory portion that they give in a different way?)
- What is the core role of philanthropy within society which differentiates it from either state or market provision?
- Can philanthropy be used to strengthen democracy, or is it inherently anti-democratic?
- What are the possible theoretical justifications for a government choosing to offer tax breaks on philanthropy?
- Was Milton Friedman right that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits”? If so, was it for the reasons he outlined or for different reasons?
- What should we make of Effective Altruism as a philosophical analysis of philanthropy?
Links
- Ted's Website
- The entry on "philanthropy" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philanthropy
- Ted's paper with Johanna Mair, "Social Enterprises as Agents of Social Justice: A Rawlsian Perspective on Institutional Capacity"
- Ted's paper "The effective altruist's political problem"
- WPM article "In An Ideal World, Would There Be No Philanthropy?"
- WPM article "Does Philanthropy Make You a Good Person?"
- Philanthropisms podcast interviews with Daniel Stid, Emma Saunders-Hastings and Amy Schiller.
- Philanthropisms episodes on "The Philosophy of Philanthropy" and "Why Do We Have Tax Breaks on Donations?"