philosophical concepts

For your final essay, write  on one of the three questions found at the end of Chapter 14 (14-6b). There are questions on homelessness, rights to keep what you earn, and inequality. As you answer your question, be sure to do two things: (1) Integrate appropriate philosophical concepts treated in our course so far (distributive justice, justice as fairness, as well as virtue ethics, natural law, utilitarianism, deontology are good candidates for this), (2) take into account three objections to your position and provide grounded rebuttals. One important aspect of your paper involves justifying your most basic claims. For example, if your account is utilitarian, it is not enough to identify it that way, but to say why utilitarianism is the best ethical theory for addressing this problem.

Discussion:The Homeless. Joe was laid off two years ago from the auto repair company where he had worked for fifteen years. For the first year he tried to get another job. He read the want ads and left applications at local employment agencies. After that, he gave up. He had little savings and soon had no money for rent. He has been homeless now for a year. He will not live in the shelters because they are crowded, noisy, and unsafe. As time goes by, he has less and less chance of getting back to where he was before. When he can, he drinks to forget the past and escape from the present. Other people he meets on the streets are developmentally disabled or psychologically disturbed. He realizes that the city offers some things to try to help people like him, but there is little money and the numbers of homeless people seem to be growing. Does society have any responsibility to do anything for people like Joe? Why or why not? What ethical principles might be relevant to this situation?