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The Samaritan, the Levite, and the Innkeeper: Three Approaches to the Ethics of Philanthropy

Posted on September 11th, 2026
21st Annual Thomas H. Lake Lecture | Meghan Sullivan, PhD

By Jennifer Donovan, Communications Manager, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

Meghan Sullivan on stage during the 2026 Lake Lecture

“Who is your neighbor?” A question that leads into the Parable of the Good Samaritan, served as the centerpiece for the 21st annual Thomas H. Lake Lecture, presented by Meghan Sullivan, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.

In her lecture, titled The Samaritan, the Levite, and the Innkeeper: Three Approaches to the Ethics of Philanthropy, Sullivan drew from her upcoming book, Loving Strangers, to reframe the parable as a philosophical thought experiment that can be applied to modern moral decisions.  

The parable originates with a debate between Jesus and an expert on Jewish law regarding what it means to love one’s neighbor. Jesus responds with the story of a traveler who is robbed, beaten, and left naked on the road to Jericho. 

For philosophical insight, Sullivan asked the audience to put themselves in the mind of each figure in the parable without judgement. This thought experiment includes the Levite who encounters the man and passes by, the Samaritan who helped the man and took him to an inn, and the innkeeper who was asked to take care of him. She then walked the audience through each of the characters actions.

Sullivan used the parable’s primary figures to model three approaches to modern philanthropy:

  • The Samaritan: Love ethic. Loving another human being through vulnerability, attentiveness, and perceiving the stranger as a “second self.”
  • The Levite: Effective altruism. Treating physical proximity and personal identity as morally irrelevant; giving is driven by measurable impact rather than emotional impulse.
  • The Innkeeper: Social trust. Relying on institutional cooperation and trusting that others will fulfill their commitments.

Ultimately, the passage in Luke 10 offers no simple formulas. It remains an open invitation to confront an enduring question: Who is worthy of your moral attention, and how can you best serve them? 

This summary only scratches the surface of the discussion. You can watch the full lecture here.