World Hunger, Benevolence, and Justice

The world hunger problem would indeed be a matter of justice if welfare rights could be shown to exist. World hunger is an international issue; adequate discussion of it must take seriously the perspectives on justice of all the disputants in the international forum. Onora O'Neill discusses three theories of benevolence: utilitarianism, libertarian-charity, and her own imperfect obligation approach. Although utilitarianism is grounded in benevolence, it fails to prioritize the alleviation of human needs. O'Neill sees both the utilitarian and the libertarian views of benevolence not only as inadequate to meet effectively the needs of the hungry, but also as erroneous accounts of our obligations of benevolence. The world hunger problem would indeed be a matter of justice if welfare rights could be shown to exist. World hunger is an international issue; adequate discussion of it must take seriously the perspectives on justice of all the disputants in the international forum.