Conceptions of Responsibility in Anti-Poverty Policy

A Philosophical/Normative Analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to present normative goals for anti-poverty measures through examining the role of the notion of “responsibility.” From a philosophical/normative perspective, we consider how responsibility should be treated in discussions about anti-poverty measures and elucidate an appropriate division of responsibility between individuals and society in such measures. By proposing an understanding that distinguishes between “responsibility as cause attribution” and “responsibility as bearing the burden of addressing problems,” this paper highlights the problems with the personal responsibility reasoning regarding poverty. Furthermore, relying on this distinction, it points out that a strategy of directly and normatively asking how responsibility as bearing the burden of addressing problems should be shared between individuals and society is persuasive when considering society’s approach to the poverty problem. We argue that the normative problem of poverty lies in the difficulty of self-determination. Based on this understanding, we argue that the normative goal of anti-poverty measures should be a normative division of responsibility in which individuals contribute to maintaining a social structure that guarantees valuable opportunities for choice to everyone, on the assumption that society addresses the problem of poverty by constructing such a structure.