Population and Third World Assistance –A Comment on Hardin's Lifeboat Ethics

Many philosophers have defended the view that well-off people or nations have an obligation to assist people who suffer from famine in less developed areas of the world. However, in contrast to this outlook, some theorists have claimed that it is ethically wrong to provide this kind of assistance. In this article the non-assistance view is discussed. It is argued that even if a neo-Malthusian population theory is correct and if we accept a maximizing policy which allows the relevant weighing of evils, there may still be an obligation to assist the victims of starvation in poor countries.