‘The way we talk about topics such as development aid, the gap between rich and poor, or social justice affects how people respond', said David Thunder, a researcher for the project, 'Religión y Sociedad Civil' (Religion and Civil Society), within the Ethics and Society Forum, which was organized in collaboration with the Institute.

Following this line, he encouraged philosophers, opinion leaders and communicators to be "more careful" when approaching the issue of helping the needy: "If we frame these issues in very broad and abstract terms, if we limit ourselves to identifying the big problems, then we make it more difficult for people to behave in a constructive manner. They feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem and unsure what to do about it."

Dr. Thunder gave the first session of the forum entitled 'Who is my Neighbor? : A Phronetic Approach to Duties of Beneficence'. He focused on personal responsibility for charity. ‘In modern societies people need to develop a sense of responsibility and initiative to attend to the needs of others. It is not enough to wait until someone tells you what to do. We must be creative and look for opportunities to help," he said.

Responsibilities to neighbors and strangers

‘It is not enough to know that we have a duty to help others; we need practical wisdom to decide whom and how to help. Individuals should use their freedom and personal responsibility to choose what to do, in accordance with their individual circumstances.

Finally, Dr. Thunder proposed that the universal duty of caring for others be approached as ‘the actual process by which people discern their responsibilities towards neighbors and strangers'.

The ‘Ethics and Society Forum' consists of a number of sessions addressing questions related to the improvement of community life in society, examined in an interdisciplinary way from the perspective of ethics, legal theory, economics, political and social philosophy - or the social sciences in general.

The activity is open to all university researchers, professors and postgraduate students. The purpose of the Ethics & Society Forum is threefold: it aims to act as a vehicle that disseminates the work carried out by the ICS among the entire university community, to promote interdisciplinary dialogue, and to enable researchers to receive valuable feedback on their work from other experts.