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Rescuing the Good Samaritan: An Exposition and a Defence of the Samaritan Principle in the Welfare State*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Alec Pemberton
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Abstract

Catholics are urged to show a ‘preferential option for the poor’. For the most part debate about the exercise of such an option is primarily in terms of a justice model—righting the twin wrongs of the ‘exploitation’ and ‘oppression’ of the poor. But there is another, largely untheorised approach to helping strangers in need—Samaritanism. This paper provides an exposition of Samaritanism and a defence of its role in the modern Welfare State. In doing so it seeks to challenge non-Christians to put their rationale for helping the needy on an equally secure footing as that provided by Christianity.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , July 1990 , pp. 281 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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