The Philanthropy of Carnegie and Tolstoy

What is the responsibility of the wealthy to the poor? What should our estate tax policy be? How should we perceive each other, regardless of our social positions and wealth? In examining these questions, it would be difficult to find two personalities with more greatly contrasting thoughts and feelings, more divergent standards of right and wrong, than Andrew Carnegie, the American industrialist millionaire, and Leo Tolstoy, the influential Russian writer. Tolstoy strives to solve the problems of life from the depths of his soul. Carnegie endeavors with practicality and intelligence to reach guiding principles. By contrasting Tolstoy's idealism with Carnegie's realism, we’ll expand the scope of our humanitarianism. And we’ll examine questions of philanthropy to help us realize greater senses of purpose and meaning in our lives.

Estimated average course time for completion of this course: 3 weeks