"...an excellent piece of work. ...written with an air of sweet reasonableness..."
--Daniel Shapiro, Reason
Cambridge University Press Web Site, April, 2000
Summary
The issue of social welfare and individual responsibility has become a topic of international public debate
in recent years as politicians around the world now question the legitimacy of state-funded welfare programs. David
Schmidtz and Robert Goodin debate the ethical merits of individual versus collective responsibility for welfare.
David Schmidtz argues that social welfare policy should prepare people for responsible adulthood rather than try
to make that unnecessary. Robert Goodin argues against the individualization of welfare policy and expounds the
virtues of collective responsibility.
Table of Contents
I. David Schmidtz, Taking Responsibility
1.0 Preface
1.1 The Tide of Wealth
1.2 Why Isn't Everyone Destitute?
1.3 Responsibility and Community
1.4 Mutual Aid
1.5 But Is It Just?
II. Robert E. Goodin, Social Welfare as a Collective Social Responsibility
2.1 The Policy Context
2.2 Some Keywords in Context
2.3 Collective Responsibility
2.4 The Classic Case for Collectivization Restated
2.5 The Morality of Incentives and Deterrence
2.6 The Point of Politics.
