Abstract
Whether an action is beneficent may depend on its effect on incentives for future behavior of the beneficiary. This strategic consideration makes our moral account of beneficence far more complex than most discussions suggest. Its effect on utilitarian and Kantian moral theories is discussed. In general, strategic incentive considerations recommend institutional rather than individual resolution of many problems, so that moral theory must in part be political and institutional.
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Hardin, R. Incentives and beneficence. Soc Just Res 4, 87–104 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01053240
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01053240