ABSTRACT
This chapter poses what might be called the cold-hearted question: is it morally acceptable for individuals in wealthy countries to ignore the plight of the poor on the other side of the world? To begin with, the question is situated within the consequentialist framework in which it has traditionally been discussed. Among the familiar criticisms of consequentialism, attention is drawn to the many problems associated with this framework's focus on impartiality. The chapter then explains what it means to have impartiality as just one value among the many that we pursue, that is to say, what it means to be partial creatures in the quest for the good life, and what implications this has for the answer we should give to the cold-hearted question. Whether it is morally acceptable to ignore the plight of people experiencing poverty will have to be answered on a case-by-case basis, depending on what provision one makes for what is personally and impersonally valuable in our navigation of the ethical landscape. The conclusion exposes that, contrary to what one might think, the same answer should be given when the question is applied to our charitable giving habits.
