Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR

In 2019, a fire severely damaged Notre Dame Cathedral. Shortly after, a variety of private citizens and companies pledged over one billion euros to pay for its restoration. Some saw the donations as incredibly generous. Others questioned whether repairing Notre Dame was really the best use of these funds.

At today's prices, 1 billion euros could buy 246 million mosquito nets to reduce preventable deaths caused by malaria, 7.1 billion bowls of rice to feed the hungry, a month of emergency housing for 2.7 million homeless people, 684,000 newly built libraries for impoverished villages or schools.

Is saving Notre Dame as valuable as these alternatives? Is it morally praiseworthy or even permissible to donate to Notre Dame when these other options are available? These are questions which both philosophers and philanthropists must ask themselves.