Helena Béjar, or the Progressive Potential of Philanthropy and Compassion

From Karl Marx to current critics of ‘effective altruism’, the elements of the political left demanding systemic change toward durable equity have long doubted the efficacy of private acts of charity in achieving progressive goals, including material equality or social justice. This article challeng...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Fitzgibbon Cella, Paul
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Murcia
Repositorio:DIGITUM. Depósito Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Murcia
OAI Identifier:oai:digitum.um.es:10201/123768
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/daimon.418991
http://hdl.handle.net/10201/123768
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Helena Béjar
Progressivism
Philanthropy
Charity
Compassion
Effective altruism
Progresismo
Filantropía
Caridad
Compasión
Altruismo efectivo
CDU::1 - Filosofía y psicología
Descripción
Sumario:From Karl Marx to current critics of ‘effective altruism’, the elements of the political left demanding systemic change toward durable equity have long doubted the efficacy of private acts of charity in achieving progressive goals, including material equality or social justice. This article challenges this position, through an investigation of Spanish thinker Helena Béjar’s philosophical analyses of volunteer philanthropy and compassion as potentially conducive to progressive aims. It finally claims that Béjar illuminates new avenues of inquiry into existing questions, though her voice has been absent from relevant debates outside her native Spain, where one of her major works, The Bad Samaritan [El mal samaritano], was a finalist for the prestigious Anagrama Essay Prize.