Famine Affluence and Morality Flashcards
What is Peter Singer’s big stance on struggling countries and their relationships to more affluent societies?
It is not superogatory but it is obligatory to help them.
What are Singer’s two assumptions in his paper?
- Suffering and death from lack of resources is bad
- If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing anything important, we should
What example is assigned to Singer’s second premise
The Drowning Child Example
What year was Singer’s article publushed?
1972
What does Singer argue is unjustifiable?
People in relatively affluent societies being indifferent to suffering elsewhere
What part of the world was living in poverty around the time of Singer’s article?
Bengal 1971
What is Singer’s main unique statement?
If it is in our power to alleviate bad things, we must do it
What does the statement comparable moral importance signify?
It would be doing good without sacrificing something else more bad to happen
Does Singer argue agent neutrality or agent relativity?
Agent neutrality
What is the difference between a psychological statement and a moral statement?
Psych is descriptive, moral is normative
What is the bystander effect?
The more people participating, the less important one’s participation is perceived by themselves
What does proximity mean in this context?
That it makes it more likely we help, but does not mean that we should help more as we should be wanting to help everyone the same
Why is the “numbers matter” paradox null in Singer’s opinion?
-It would assume that everyone donates simultaneously and unexpectedly
-If everyone knows what everyone else is giving, there will be a lower obligation
-Everyone doing their most would be better than everyone doing nothing
What are two possible objections to Singer’s viewpoint?
- It is too drastic
- It would require everyone to be working full time to increase the balance of happiness
What is the argument against Singer for Duty vs. Charity?
Moral code needs to be not too far from the capabilities of the ordinary man so that there is compliance with all moral code
What is the moderate vs the strong version of Singer’s obligation?
Strong = do good until there is a comparable moral significance
Moderate = just until there is a significant moral sacrifice
What is the normativity problem associated with Singer?
He provides no framework for how to change our tendencies
What is the basis of effective altruism?
Giving money to the right groups can cause a lot more aid than others
