Does scarcity precede our notion of “philanthropy”? (which is really Soteriology in a hooded mask)
Philanthropy was classically defined as love for humanity, not alms for the poor.
“love of what it is to be human” is the essential nature and purpose of humanity, culture and civilization — was intrinsically philosophical, containing both metaphysics and ethics. The Greeks adopted the “love of humanity” as an educational ideal, whose goal was excellence (arete)—the fullest self-development, of body, mind, and spirit, which is the essence of liberal education.