Introduction to Ethics

Photo: Colleen Hayes / NBC.

While Ethical Egoism suggests that you ought to be solely concerned about your own interests, most people tend to believe that the interests of others should matter in some way. One issue testing this idea concerns world poverty. Peter Singer argues that a basic humanitarian concern for others demands that you make some significant sacrifices in order to alleviate the evils of poverty.

We have two learning outcomes for this module on world poverty. At the end of it, you will be able to…

Summarize Peter Singer’s argument justifying why you should assist those in poverty, and
Reflect on whether you should be doing more to assist those in poverty.

Read This:

Famine, Affluence, and Morality

Context

Nearly 700 million people (just over 9% of the global population) live on less than $1.90 a day, in a condition the World Bank refers to as extreme poverty. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 41% of the population is living in extreme poverty, and about 1 children in 36 dies in the first month of life.

Those who live in extreme poverty frequently lack effective access to proper nutrition, adequate shelter, safe drinking water, and sanitation. As a result, they also bear the greatest burdens of famine and epidemic disease, and they also frequently face social and political conditions of unrest and systematic oppression.

In this classic article, the Australian philosopher Peter Singer (1946–present) argues that each one of us has a moral duty to provide whatever assistance we can to the global poor. But is Singer’s solution to world poverty too demanding?

Reading Questions

As you read, keep these questions in mind:

Peter Singer’s entire argument rests on only two premises to justify his conclusion that we have a moral obligation to assist those in poverty. What are these two premises? How does Singer justify them? One of these premises comes in “a strong and a moderate version” (Singer, 1972, p. 241) form—what is the difference between these two versions? Does that difference affect Singer’s conclusion?
Singer believes that there are two controversial aspects of his argument. One concerns proximity, and the other concerns whether others are also capable of providing assistance. How does Singer address these two concerns?
Singer claims this argument challenges a traditional distinction between duty and charity when it comes to poverty. How so?
Finally, Singer presents two objections to his argument. What are these two objections? How does he respond to them?

Although I strongly suggest that you write out brief answers to these questions, you do not have to turn in written responses. You do, however, need to be prepared to answer questions like these on module quizzes and the unit exams.