LARTS 321 — Humanitarianism & Philosophy

Prerequisite: LARTS 112  We are all familiar with aid agencies asking for donations to support their life-saving work. Often these appeals aim to stimulate compassion for the suffering of distant strangers in ways that prompt us to act. This course takes humanitarian action – broadly construed as organized attempts to alleviate the suffering of distant strangers – as a point of departure for analyzing a range of issues using the tools of moral and political philosophy. We will attempt to better understand the nature and scope of our moral obligations to distant strangers as well as the nature and value of moral sentiments like compassion and their relation to justice. We will engage different frameworks for evaluating various modes of humanitarian action by non-governmental organizations, governments, and international bodies. We will also critically examine the modes of representation used to portray the suffering of distant strangers.