In this time of mass communication, rich people like us know very well the horrible conditions in which many poor people must live. In Affluent in the Face of Poverty Jos Philips wonders what we should do about poverty.
The book argues that if we can do great good at little cost to ourselves, we ought to do so – and perhaps we ought to do great good even if the cost to ourselves of doing so, is not small. Also, it is argued that rich individuals like us can often, at little cost to ourselves, undertake a number of concrete actions which help to fight poverty, and that we are morally obligated to undertake acts such as giving tithes, living within our ecological footprint, and frequently buying fair trade products.

Jos Philips is a lecturer in ethics in the Subfaculty of Philosophy at Utrecht University.