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Generosity: Virtue in the Civil Society

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In this lean and meaty volume, libertarian philosopher Tibor Machan both makes a case for generosity as a civic virtue and denies that it can be enjoined by law. Grounding his arguments in a rational-egoistic, natural-law-based "virtue ethic," he presents what may be the best argument yet offered that the virtue of generosity is a constitutive part of a well-lived human life. He then proceeds to demolish the view that generosity may properly, or can be effectively, enforced by a "welfare state."

This work also makes a nice companion to David Kelley's _Unrugged Individualism_, which focuses on the more general virtue of _benevolence_. The Randian camp has not yet made a full case that benevolence and generosity -- which, by nature and definition, aim _directly_ at the well-being of people other than oneself -- are genuinely compatible with rational egoism; Kelley in particular tries to reduce benevolence without remainder merely to further consequences to oneself. But Machan's virtue ethic makes up for a good deal of what Kelley lacks; between the two of them, they've made a tremendous start on a very demanding project.