Poverty and Morality Religious and Secular Perspectives [Paperback]

Explores the ways that many influential ethical traditions wrestle with the moral dimensions of poverty.This multiauthored book explores how many influential ethical traditions  secular and religious, Western and non-Western  wrestle with the moral dimensions of poverty and the needs of the poor. The basic questions addressed by each of these traditions are linked to several overarching themes regarding poverty, and the essays are framed by an introductory background chapter and a comparative conclusion.This multiauthored book explores how many influential ethical traditions  secular and religious, Western and non-Western  wrestle with the moral dimensions of poverty and the needs of the poor. The basic questions addressed by each of these traditions are linked to several overarching themes regarding poverty, and the essays are framed by an introductory background chapter and a comparative conclusion.This multiauthored book explores how many influential ethical traditions  secular and religious, Western and non-Western  wrestle with the moral dimensions of poverty and the needs of the poor. These traditions include Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, among the religious perspectives; classical liberalism, feminism, liberal-egalitarianism, and Marxism, among the secular; and natural law, which might be claimed by both. The basic questions addressed by each of these traditions are linked to several overarching themes: what poverty is, the particular vulnerabilities of high-risk groups, responsibility for the occurrence of poverty, preferred remedies, how responsibility for its alleviation is distributed, and priorities in the delivery of assistance. These essays are preceded by a background chapter on the types, scope, and causes of poverty in the modern world and some contemporary strategies for eliminating it. The volume concludes with Michael Walzers broadly conceived commentary, which provides a direct comparison of the preselã7