本文從西方社會工作的歷史，考察為什麼要幫助窮人的道理，指出希伯來時期看重互助；希臘羅馬時期著意於互惠；早期基督教強調同胞（博愛）、憐憫；封建時期則依賴從屬關係與個人慈善；至於近代受新教工作倫理影響則以自由主義向效益主義轉化，但更突出國家競爭力作為助人的羅輯。此外，我們還補充需要說、公義說與權利說，作為社會工作者幫助窮人或陌生人的理據。最後，為了社會工作專業教育的發展，我自倡議有必要更關心這項過去被忽略的議題。

To explore the helping traditions of social work from the western history, we examine chronologically the concepts of reciprocity in Hebraic society, altruism in the Greek and Roman world, voluntarism and compassion in Christian views, personal charity in the feudal world, and work ethic, utilitarianism in eighteenth century. The theory of justice, right, and need should be considered in modern way. Finally, the long-neglected issues of helping the poor should be no longer neglected for the further development of professional social work education.