Which of the carnegie's beliefs on philanthropy differed from those of William graham sumner?

Answer 1

I don't know too much about Carnegie's specific philanthropic philosophy. I very brief bit of research brought up a couple of conflicts between Sumner (middle name is Graham by the way) and Carnegie. I am fairly well read in Sumner, I haven't read any of the biography he wrote, but I have read nearly all of his essays on political science and social science. Carnegie supported, if needed an inheritance tax on the rich to put their wealth back into society. I can say with 100% certainty that Sumner would have been completely against any government regulation on redistribution of wealth (What social classes owe each other, and several essays). Sumner believed that the government had to place telling people what to do with their money to help people who have "failed in their struggle" for life. Furthermore he believed that one of the best ways to accumulate capitol, which he saw as a paramount duty of all citizens, was to inherit it from their family. He went so far as to say that in less civilized society it was the biggest waste of capitol to bury someone with their wealth, or to burn their belonging when they died (folkways I am pretty sure). A common misconception of Sumner is that he did not advocate helping people in need, this is completely untrue (see What social classes owe to each other, chapter XI Wherefore we should love one another). He thought that you should help but "What I choose to do by way of exercising my own sympathies under my own reason and conscience is one thing; what another man forces me to do of a sympathetic character, because his reason and conscience approve of it, is quite another thing" (What social classes owe to each other, chapter XI) So Sumner definitely would agree that you should give, but that it must be your own decision, and should not be forced on you by someone else. If you were to list more specifically some of Carnegies beliefs on philanthropy I could address them more directly, but I simply don't know enough about Carnegie to comment any further.