really unique book about altruism, bundling together stories of extremely altruistic individuals with sections on the history and theory of altruism. macfarquhar is a gorgeous writer, which made the moral philosophy bits especially engrossing (request: entire ethics textbook by her). the individual portraits were like mini-biographies, and while some were more interesting than others, i appreciated that they were a geographically diverse group with vastly different rationales for giving. the book focuses on altruistic intentions and their origins instead altruism's consequences: whether these people's impacts are good (not as obvious as you think - consider missionaries), or whether our society ought to be more altruistic. i think that's the point, but it felt like crucial context was missing.
(jan 8, 2021)
To reply you need to sign in.