Professor emeritus reflects on humanitarianism, morality

The lecture was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion as the fifth annual Doll Family Lecture on Religion and Money.

Walzer discussed whether helping people in need was a duty or an act of kindness or a combination of both.

He specifically talked of the United States’ moral duty to help countries, such as Rwanda and Cambodia, that had experienced genocides and massacres in the recent past.

“Charity is not only good, but it is right,” Walzer stated.

“For humanitarianism, my views brings together in a way that is easier to understand what we freely choose to do and what we have to do,” Walzer said.

In his discussion of addressing the needs of the poor and oppressed in a community, he examined the Jewish idea of tzedakah, or charity. The idea of tzedakah, Waltzer said, shapes Jewish philanthropy and politics.

Waltzer noted that the two highest levels of tzedakah emphasized the importance of giving the poor not just material charity but jobs, so that they can be economically independent and thus retain their dignity.

They also emphasized anonymity when giving, so that the person receiving the charity does not feel a humiliating obligation to another person.

These two views, Walzer explained, can be expanded onto the international stage.

“What the poorest, most oppressed need today is a decent state,” he said.

He advocated for countries receiving aid to eventually become self-sustaining and economically independent. These goals, he said, should be the ultimate aim of humanitarianism.

Several audience members said that they found the talk intriguing and were left examining their own understandings of the role of charity.

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Waltzer concluded his speech by asking the audience to think about the future of humanitarianism.

“What ought to be done right now?” he asked. “The answer to that question will change ... but once we have figured out an answer, we can think of humanitarianism as a two-in-one enterprise ... It invites us to choose to do what we are bound to do.”

“I liked his analogy between charity and justice and how he related them,” Chinwe Chukwuogo ’13 said.

“I wish he had touched more on why there is that obligation to engage in charity,” she added.

“In his books I have read, he writes more of state welfare within the state, so I was surprised he was advocating for international aid and intervention,” Colleen McCullough ’12 noted.

Walzer is the author of several books on moral philosophy and political theory, including “Just and Unjust Wars,” “On Toleration” and “Arguing About War.”