SINGER YOU GOTTA GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS

PETER SINGER (born 1946) Author of Animal Liberation 1975 And 32 other books on ethics & related topics Started Great Ape Project

[Michael Bakunin ] “Property is theft.” Rich, noble family. Russia still had serfs. Went to Moscow in 1835 to study philosophy. Also: “the passion for destruction is a creative passion” “[labor] must be sole basis of right and economic organization of the state.”

[Michael Bakunin ]

Main Argument: Premises Premise 1 Suffering and death due to poverty is bad. 679 Premise 2 If we can prevent something bad (without incurring equally bad loss), then we ought to do so. 679

Main Argument: Conclusions SO (“Strong” & “the correct one”): We ought to give to the poor till we are just as poor. 684 SO (“Moderate”): We must give till we lose something morally significant. 684

Main Example If we see a child drowning in a shallow pond, we ought to save the child, even if we get our clothes muddy [or miss Phil class]. 679

Main Corollary Our morals and way of life must be altered. 679 What we think of as charity must be seen as obligatory Normal moral categories: prohibited / permitted / obligatory(=duty) / supererogatory(= above duty). Urmson, “Saints and Heroes” (1958)

Details 1. Distance is irrelevant Numbers of people obligated is irrelevant [“Kantian” objection]: If everyone gave a lesser amount, the problem would be solved, so I am obliged only to give the lesser amount. 680

Details 4. St. Thomas & St. Ambrosius “The bread which you withhold belongs to the hungry; the clothing you shut away, to the naked….” “…overseas aid should be a government responsibility.” We must have population control first, or else we just postpone starvation. 684

Details 7. Though “The value and necessity of economic growth are now being questioned not only by conservationists but by economists too…there must be a limit to the extent to which we should deliberately slow down our economy.” 684 [cf. Adam Smith ]