Private Virtues, Public Vices

Philanthropy plays a huge role in supporting many public goods in contemporary American and European societies. Thus, the decision about what activities receive support and are therefore financially viable depends the personal preferences of the wealthy. In Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality, political theorist Emma Saunders-Hastings argues that philanthropy is a deeply political activity that should be judged not only by the morality of the causes being supported, but also by the fact that the choices of the very rich essentially dictate decisions for the rest of us, foreclosing some possibilities and directing us down paths we might not otherwise choose. What Saunders-Hastings asks is that we look at the impact on democracy of the kind of power wielded by philanthropy and how it enables the wealthy to exercise greater power in our society and deepen its political inequalities--