Social Welfare and Individual Responsibility

Schmidtz and Goodin debate the ethical merits of individual versus collective responsibility for welfare.

David Schmidtz (Author), Robert E. Goodin (Author)

9780521564618, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 August 1998

244 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.38 kg

' … clear and accessible, and show a remarkable mastery of the empirical literature.' Political Studies

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 systems. 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.

Part I. Taking Responsibility David Schmidtz
1. Preface
2. The tide of wealth
3. Why isn't everyone destitute?
4. Responsibility and community
5. Mutual aid
6. But is it just?
Part II. Social Welfare as a Collective Social Responsibility Robert E. Goodin
7. The policy context
8. Some keywords in context
9. Collective responsibility
10. The classic case for collectivization restated
11. The morality of incentives and deterrence
12. The point of politics.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]