We may not have quite that capacity for memory; but Keneally deserves gratitude for ensuring that Sickles and his contemporaries live for a few more years yet.
Philosophers debate the specific conditions under which gratitude is called for in a beneficiary that is, the conditions under which beneficiary Y owes gratitude to benefactor R, and R deserves gratitude from Y, as a result of R's φ-ing.
On this view, if R benefits Y only because she (R) has a gun to her head, she does not deserve gratitude, even if she benefited Y intentionally (Simmons 1979).
The captured soldier who resists torture long enough for her companions to reach safety seems to deserve gratitude, despite doing no more than her duty (refraining from giving the enemy valuable information).
Finally, it might be argued that a benefactor who benefits me in fulfilling her duty deserves gratitude insofar as living up to her duty required extraordinary sacrifice on her part (McConnell 1993: 16; Seneca On Benefits: III.19.12 13).
When she chooses Y's organization, her action is neither supererogatory nor praiseworthy; but it seems she still deserves gratitude from Y. Whether R must incur some liability in φ-ing.
By the same token, if R intends, plans and sacrifices in an attempt to benefit Y, but finds her attempts thwarted at the last minute by chance, it seems she still deserves gratitude.
And that deserves gratitude every single day.
"They deserve gratitude and respect from all Canadians for their steadfast determination.
The Guide did not identify the designer, but it did bestow a backhanded compliment, saying that he deserved "our gratitude for refraining from emptying his portfolio upon it".
