"Lifeboat Ethics: the Case

Against Helping the Poor"

by Garrett Hardin

Phil240, Introduction to Ethical Theory

Benjamin Visscher Hole IV
Office Hours: M-Th, 12:30-1pm
 Agenda

1. Clicker Quiz
2. Quick clip of Hardin explaining
his argument
3. Review and Criticize Hardin’s
Argument

Focus on discussion today

 QUIZ
Please set your
Turning
Technology
Clicker to
channel 41

Press “Ch”, then

“41”, then “Ch”
 Hardin, in his article “Lifeboat Ethics,” argues that

A. rich nations have an obligation 100%

to help poor ones whose
population can be controlled
B. poor nations have a right to the
help of rich nations
C. rich nations ought to help only
other rich nations
D. rich nations have an obligation 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
not to help poor nations whose
population cannot be controlledli... t .. l... li... bove bove
h he a a
ob ig ob
E. all of the above ve
a n
a ve
a r
ght
t o
ve
a n
l of
th e
of
th e
a h u a a l e
sh so sh on
F. none of the above ati
o n
ati
o ns
ati
o n
ati
o n n
n n n n
h or h h
ri c po ric ri c
 According to Hardin, the fundamental
error of “sharing ethics” is
A. it is anti-Christian 100%
B. it is altruistic
C. it would require a
stronger system of
taxation for the affluent
D. it would lead to a
“tragedy of the
commons” 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

E. all of the above stian i sti

c
... . .. o ve o ve
ri ltr
u on g ab ab
Ch tr tra e e
F. none of the above - a s “ h h
nti it
is
e
a
o
a o ft o ft
a i r t l
is u d al
q ne a
it re le no
ld ld
ou ou
w w
it it
 Hardin’s approach to the moral
issues of hunger and poverty is
essentially:
A. a consequentialist 78%

approach
B. a deontological
approach
22%
C. a virtue ethics
approach 0% 0% 0%

D. a natural law theory a ch a ch a ch ... r..

.
ro ro ro ap p
approach ap
p p p p p y
a ap a or t
l is
t
ica
l ics th
e r xis
tia h a
n lo
g et w M
e o e la n/
E. a Christian/Marxist u nt tu a l a
eq o vir tu
r
ris
ti
ns de a na h
co a a a
C
a
approach
 Some facts
• “Regarding hunger the world over
– Each year, 9 million people die from starvation and hunger
related illnesses.
– There are 24,000 hunger or hunger-related deaths each day.
– 1 person dies from starvation or a hunger related illness every
3.6 seconds.”
Dr. Max Deutsch http://philosophy.hku.hk/courses/food/files/The%20ethics%20of%20giving.ppt
 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8gAMFTAt2M

Garrett Hardin on the Tragedy of

the Commons and Resources
 Hardin
• Hardin argues that helping poverty in today's world
would not do any good (and it would lead to still greater
demands in the future).

• He justifies this view empirically, that the giving of aid

would be ineffective and counterproductive for
controlling population growth.
 Hardin
The Lifeboat Metaphor
• Rich nations are lifeboats full of rich people and poor nations are
(much more crowded) lifeboats full of poor people.
– The central problem of “the ethics of a lifeboat”: What should the passengers
on a rich lifeboat do?
• Three options:
– Unlimited sharing
– Selective sharing
– No sharing
• Hardin argues for the third option.
 Hardin, Tragedy of the
Commons

• Socialism
Prisoner’s Dilemma • Privatization
• Appeal to broader self-
interests …

• Appeal to some notion of

reciprocity or fairness …

How is the tragedy of the commons in the

international realm of analysis resistant
to standard solutions to Prisoner’s
Dilemma?
 Hardin's Argument

P1. We should adopt those policies that lead to

the best long term benefits for everyone.
P2. Helping the poor, in terms of a World Food
Bank or liberal immigration policies, would lead
to the destruction of the environment and a
ruined world for future generations.
C3. It follows that we should not adopt the
aforementioned policies.
 Hardin’s Argument
• Premise 1: is a straightforward utilitarian
principle (we will consider utilitarianism
in more detail next week).
 Hardin’s Argument
• Defending Premise 2:
– Tragedy of the Commons: Hardin argues that
by setting up a world food bank to feed the poor
or by allowing the poor to immigrate to the
wealthy countries, we make food “common
property”.

– Aristotle claimed “that which is held in common

is cared for the least.”

– The collective action problem destroys

incentives to produce and to wisely consume
this resource and will result in accelerated
depletion of the resource.
 Hardin’s Argument
• Defending Premise 2:
– Reproduction: Hardin cites numerous statistics concerning
the relatively high growth of population in the poorest
countries compared to the lower growth rate in more
prosperous countries.

– Given this population trend, there is no way that the wealthy

can (continue to) subsidize the poor.

– The long-run result of providing famine relief now is that

there will be even more living in abject poverty in the future
and, at some time in the future, our ability to provide even
short-term famine relief will be exhausted. Then, millions
more will die of starvation because of our current efforts at
famine relief.
 Hardin’s Argument
• Defending Premise 2:
– Should we send information? Hardin argues that
even if we could restrict our foreign aid to teaching
people to provide for themselves, the fact that doing
so would increase the human population would
allow us to apply the lifeboat metaphor again.

– “if we teach others to build their own boats, there

will be too many of us fishing in the ocean.”
 Hardin's Argument

P1. We should adopt those policies that lead to

the best long term benefits for everyone.
P2. Helping the poor, in terms of a World Food
Bank or liberal immigration policies, would lead
to the destruction of the environment and a
ruined world for future generations.
C3. It follows that we should not adopt the
aforementioned policies.