Thanks for this very thoughtful response—I think it really clarifies some of the tensions I referred to in my response to DavidMoss above. I framed my original post as one about integration of different interests, but you are right that they proceed from different ethical commitments. As you conclude, many of us here have some personal commitment to both those ethics, but they aren’t really integratable
I think some dignity-informed interventions *would* pass a cost-effectiveness test—but probably not at the very top of the effectiveness pyramid. Dignity arguments are unlikely to transform AMF’s practice, or lead us to replace AMF with a different charity. They might improve effectiveness for many existing middling programs, through two routes: by providing an additional argument for converting to cash transfers, and by suggesting small welfare-increasing ameliorations to many average programs. We tend to talk about the ideal interventions here, and in terms of directing our own giving that’s quite right—this might have more to tell us about the bulk of other aid.
Thanks for this very thoughtful response—I think it really clarifies some of the tensions I referred to in my response to DavidMoss above. I framed my original post as one about integration of different interests, but you are right that they proceed from different ethical commitments. As you conclude, many of us here have some personal commitment to both those ethics, but they aren’t really integratable
I think some dignity-informed interventions *would* pass a cost-effectiveness test—but probably not at the very top of the effectiveness pyramid. Dignity arguments are unlikely to transform AMF’s practice, or lead us to replace AMF with a different charity. They might improve effectiveness for many existing middling programs, through two routes: by providing an additional argument for converting to cash transfers, and by suggesting small welfare-increasing ameliorations to many average programs. We tend to talk about the ideal interventions here, and in terms of directing our own giving that’s quite right—this might have more to tell us about the bulk of other aid.