1. AFFLUENCE AND MORALITY

2. Human actions: a typology From the perspective of ethics, actions may be divided into 3 categories: 1) Permissible 2) Non-permissible (forbidden) 3) Obligatory

3. Praise and blame 1) We are neither praised nor blamed for doing or failing to do a permissible act. 2) We are blamed for doing non-permissible acts, though we are not praised for refraining from them. 3) We are blamed for failing to do our duty but not praised for doing our duty.

4. So when do we or should we actually praise other people’s actions?

5. Supererogatory actions Supererogatory actions: are a subset of permissible actions which are ‘beyond the call of duty’; it is laudable to do such actions but not reprehensible if not done. ‘[A]n act which it would be good to do, but not wrong not to do’ (Singer, 1972, p. 235). Supererogatory actions are praiseworthy.

6. Some uncomfortable facts (UNICEF) 2012: approx. 18000 children under 5 died daily of hunger. In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 10 children dies before the age of 5 (compared to 1 in 170 in developed countries). 45% of under-five deaths are attributable to hunger.

7. More facts Approx. 50% of under-five deaths are in India, China, Pakistan, Congo and Nigeria. Pneumonia claimed about 2 million under- five lives in 2005. A course of antibiotics to treat pneumonia costs 27 cents (US).

8. Preventable diseases Approx. US $1bn. over 5 years required to: (i) reduce new HIV infections amongst children by 90%, and (ii) halve the number of aids-related maternal deaths. UNICEF (2013).

9. Starvation To feed a schoolchild in the developing world, it costs $0.25 per day ($50 per year). Enough food is grown each year to nourish the world’s population; it is the unequal distribution of food which causes starvation. (World Food Programme).

10. Peter Singer Premise of the argument: ‘[S]uffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad’ (p. 231).

11. If we can prevent something bad “without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it.” (Singer, 1972, p. 231).

12. Utilitarianism and impartiality Who decides what is of “comparable moral importance”?

13. Singer (cont.) Can we prevent death by starvation? “Ought implies can”: it can only be said that a person ought to do X if the person can do X.

14. Singer and supererogatory actions Giving money to prevent starvation is not supererogatory; it is obligatory. Those who give to charity do not deserve praise; those who fail to give deserve blame.

15. Moral excuses I ‘My duty to help is limited by the duty of others to help’. Shouldn’t everybody be giving an equal (and relatively modest) amount? (Singer, 1972, pp. 232-3).

16. Moral excuses II ‘Helping the world’s poor is the job of my government’. Overseas Development Aid statistics

17. Moral excuses III ‘How do I know that charities will use the money effectively?’ http://www.givewell.net

18. Singer and Pogge What is the main difference between Pogge’s Global Resource Dividend and Singer’s proposals? Positive and negative duties (again)

19. Does Peter Singer practice what he preaches?