The objection that some cases of desert lack a fitting appraising attitude is a genuine difficulty only if every appraising attitude is either favorable or unfavorable.

Furthermore, it appears that there are cases in which a person deserves something but in which no appraising attitude seems to be fitting. Suppose, for example, that an abandoned child is in need of medical care and nurturance. The fact that the child is sick does not make it appropriate for onlookers to admire her or to condemn her. It does not call for any “positive” or “negative” appraising attitude. Nevertheless, the claim that the child deserves medical care and nurturance in virtue of her