Mine Rescue, by Fletcher Martin, 1939. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

Philanthropy

Volume VIII, Number 3 | summer 2015

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Preamble

Pennies from Heaven

By Lewis H. Lapham

The word philanthropy first appears in Western thought in the fifth century BC to denote an act of rebellion and name the crime of treason.

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Treasure in Heaven

By Peter Brown

St. Augustine and other early Christians challenged the Roman idea of charity by invoking the ultimate authority—God.

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Map

Money Trails

Where the UN, the World Bank, and eleven nations send foreign aid.

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Miscellany

Kings of England extorted money from their subjects in taxes concealed as gifts—a practice first used in 1473 by Edward IV. These were known as benevolences.

1536 | Basel

Justice Is Not Blind

“God is the judge; he puts down one, and sets up another.”More

1796 | London

Prix Fixe

How to make a very cheap soup.More

1906 | Chicago

Edifice Complex

There’s no such thing as a free library.More

Charts & Graphs

Clean-Up Crews

How charitable is charitable enough for atonement?

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Portrait of Alexis de Tocqueville wearing a black suit and standing in front of a chair.

Black and white photograph of Italian writer and chemist Primo Levi.

Sepia colored photo of Oscar Wilde sitting on a rock with a book in his hand

Pastel drawing of George Eliot.

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.

—Ralph Nader, 2000

Edward III & Carol Liu

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