Full Idea
If generosity towards the needy in the long run produced [social] parasites, and if generosity did this systematically, then it would not be a moral virtue.
Gist of Idea
If generosity systematically turned recipients into parasites, it wouldn't be a virtue
Source
Julia Driver (The Virtues and Human Nature [1996], 5)
Book Reference
'How Should One Live? On the Virtues', ed/tr. Crisp,Roger [OUP 1998], p.125
A Reaction
A very persuasive example. Hume has similar views - that we encourage those emotions which have good social outcomes.
Related Idea
Idea 22522 To grasp something, trace it back to its natural origins [Aristotle]