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forum 45

poverty&thedutyofassistance

For various reasons, most of our readers come from the western industrialised world. One is that this magazine is, for many of the world’s population, an absurdly expensive luxury. So what would you do if, armed with the last of your cash, and about to buy this or some similar publication at a news stand, you saw someone dying of starvation? Wouldn’t it be obscene to buy the magazine, rather than buy food and drink for the destitute person? And if you would do that if the person were in front of you, what difference would it make if that person were far away, but still capable of being helped? These are the tough questions at the core of this forum, which draws on a conference “World Poverty and the Duty of Assistance”, organised by the Forum for European Philosophy. Make yourself comfortable — you won’t stay that way for long.

TP M

4th quarter 2006