In this Issue:

• • Loving Attention: The Good Samaritan and Philanthropic Ethics
  • Exploring the Good Life
  • Are You Interested in Learning About Faith-Based Capital Campaigns?
  • Watch the 2026 Lake Lecture Replay

By David P. King, PhD, Karen Lake Buttrey Director and Associate Professor, Philanthropic Studies

In our current political and cultural climate, one of the most common requests we hear is a call for civility. And civility is by all accounts admirable, even vital, for any effective civil society and for healthy public debate. Yet, for Professor Meghan Sullivan, civility itself is by no means enough. It’s a second-order virtue – productive and perhaps necessary in a pluralistic and democratic society – but it falls short of the depth of activity and attention able to transform a person, a relationship, and a community. For Sullivan, that power is reserved for nothing short of love.  

In our twenty-first Thomas H. Lake lecture, noted University of Notre Dame philosopher Meghan Sullivan sought to apply that love ethic to philanthropy through one of history’s most famous stories: The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Taking her cue from St. Ignatius of Loyola and Ignatian spirituality, in Sullivan’s powerful retelling and examination of the story, she invited the audience to imagine themselves as each character within the story – from the Samaritan and wounded man, to the Levite and priest, and even the innkeeper as well.  

Through the lens of the Samaritan, Sullivan unpacked what we might see as philanthropy embodied through loving attention. The Samaritan was attentive to the wounded man, setting aside stereotypes, differences, and his own desires to tend to the man’s present needs. He made himself vulnerable to focus on the person right in front of him. As Sullivan described, this was no abstract love of all humanity, or an emotive touchy-feely love, but rather a love that you could feel in your guts – focused and intense even if it could be messy. And that love continued, as the Samaritan carried the wounded man to the nearest inn, attending to his every need that night, and making arrangements at his own expense to ensure his attentive care continued through the innkeeper.  

How does that translate to philanthropy? Sullivan was keen to point out that attention and connection matters. Your philanthropy (literally the love of humanity) is not simply designated for family, friends, and those of your tribe. The parable is clear that in considering who is your neighbor, connection and vulnerability matter. That may mean proximity invites you to help a neighbor next door, but it might also mean connecting with someone around the world. Connection modeled through attention and mutual vulnerability serves as a guide. In essence, philanthropy costs us something more than the time we volunteer or the dollars we give.  

Sullivan contrasted this form of philanthropy with a second form encapsulated in the school of “effective altruism.” In her imaginative retelling (again worth watching in full), Sullivan considers how the Levite and priest could illustrate this modern approach. Sullivan consents that the intentions of effective altruists are good. They are prioritizing efforts to do the most good for the greatest number of people, and they want to be able to measure that impact, compare their options, and rationally make decisions that aren’t overwhelmed by emotions, personal passions, or particular connections. It is by nature, less personal, proximate, and perhaps less driven by connection, attention, and vulnerability. Such an approach has gained a solid following as many philanthropic-minded individuals truly want to make the greatest difference they can with the resources they have. 

In contrast, Sullivan proposes what she calls “affective altruism” that prioritizes the connection, vulnerability, and attention she developed in the love ethic of the Samaritan. While impact is important, she highlights practical wisdom over optimization, particularity and a connection with the recipient over detachment. As a virtue, philanthropy driven by love is not simply good for others, it is also deepened, developed, and beneficial for the giver as well. As we so often teach at Lake Institute, generosity is a learned character trait, a moral virtue, that must be regularly practiced. Generosity is not just for the few of us blessed with abundant resources, it’s a virtue that all of us can practice. Just as all of us are recipients of gifts, so too can we be philanthropists. And often the relationships and connections we develop as we give and receive is where that love ethic is sharpened.  

Finally, Sullivan offered us encouragement by celebrating the innkeepers in our midst. For so many of us who have given much of our lives working for congregations, nonprofits, and civic organizations, Sullivan’s attention to the necessary role that innkeepers play was a welcome word. To be clear, Sullivan is not naïve to what she is calling us toward. This love ethic, this way of living generously, is not easy. To make space for the attention and support necessary to attend and connect with others amidst the harried nature of our lives with our personal goals and with society often incentivizing different ends, we need institutions, leaders, and communities of support. We need guides, models, and places of empowerment where there is built-in and well-earned trust when we get it wrong or we need additional help.  

We left the lecture with much to chew on. What would the philanthropic sector look like if we more often sought to embody this love ethic or “affective altruism”? How do our institutions and innkeepers help to shape a particular ethic or ethos of philanthropy? At the same time, how are we ensuring as a sector that we are also caring for the innkeepers among us in their vital work? 

Yet, we also all left encouraged, knowing the power that philanthropy – the love of humanity – holds for shaping society and shaping our own individual lives is powerful. Perhaps in the rekindling of philanthropy’s roots in love and attention, we can find the secret to a good life and a particular path to building flourishing lives and a flourishing world together.