Shue and Mencius on the Provision of Subsistence

Abstract

In this work, I will examine the approaches for the provision of subsistence to those whose subsistence is threatened offered by Henry Shue in Basic Rights: Subsistence, Affluence and U.S. Foreign Policy (BR) and the Chinese philosopher and student of Confucius, Mencius (direct quotes coming from the Mencius). These two thinkers, coming from very different times (Mencius lived in the fourth century BC while Shue is contemporary) and places, approach this problem with surprisingly similar objectives but quite different methods (although sometimes not so different). . . . I will break the topic of subsistence provision into three questions: Why? What? and How? Why is the provision of basic subsistence necessary, i.e. what is its justification? What constitutes basic subsistence? How do we go about providing it? The answers to these questions will overlap greatly, but in the end I believe a holistic account will emerge and a greater understanding of the problem will follow. [From introductory section]