1. Who is My Neighbour? 2 World Hunger, Disease and Other Challenges Faced by Developing Countries David Carpenter 23rd September 2015 Portsmouth Cathedral

2. 16 September 2015Who is my neighbour 1? The so-called migrant problem. 23 September 2015 Who is my neighbour 2? World hunger, disease and other challenges faced by developing countries. 30 September 2015 The perfect person1. The moral landscape of new reproductive technologies 7 October 2015 The perfect person 2. Worthwhileness of life in the face of progressive disease and disability. Euthanasia- including assisted suicide. 14 October 2015 Law and order; crime and punishment. How can the scales of justice be balanced morally? 21 October 2015Open session. It is likely that participants will identify further topics – this session will be devoted to some of these.

6. World Hunger 795 million people – or one in nine people in the world – do not have enough to eat. 98% of the world’s undernourished people live in developing countries. Where is hunger the worst? Asia: 525.6 million Sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa: 214 million Latin America and the Caribbean: 37 million

7. Women and Children 60 percent of the world’s hungry are women. 50 percent of pregnant women in developing countries lack proper maternal care, resulting in 240,000 maternal deaths annually from childbirth. 1 out of 6 infants are born with a low birth weight in developing countries. Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children each year. That is 8,500 children per day. A third of all childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by hunger. 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. Every 10 seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.

8. HIV/AIDS and other Diseases 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. 52 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS are women. 88 percent of all children and 60 percent of all women living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa. 6.9 million children died in 2011 each year – 19,000 a day- mostly from preventable health issues such as malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia. Launched in 2003, The Hunger Project’s HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality Campaign works at the grassroots level to provide education about preventative and treatment measures.

9. The Position We are relatively rich We could give and save lives / reduce or prevent suffering Do we have any moral obligation to do so? If so, what is the nature of that obligation? Might there be an obligation not to help?

10. Malthusian Population Theory Populations grow faster than food supplies Famine, warfare, disease etc – natural phenomena to counter the problem We should not interfere with nature If we do so we will make things worse

11. Population grows exponentially, for example, 1-2-4-8-16-32- 64. Food supply grows arithmetically, for example, 1-2-3-4-5-6. Therefore, population will inevitably exceed food supply. http://www.s-cool.co.uk/a- level/geography/population /revise-it/population- models

12. He then went on two say that there are two possible outcomes. Firstly, he said population could exceed food supply only to be positively "checked" (reduced) by famine, war, and disease.

13. Alternatively, the population could pre-empt the food shortages and so slow their population growth keeping it within the limits of the food supply. Malthus called these negative checks. These negative checks would include later marriages and abstinence from sex (Remember Malthus was writing before wide spread contraception!). People would make these decisions sub-consciously as food prices increased and standard of living fell.

14. “The harsh ethics of the lifeboat become even harsher when we consider the reproductive differences between the rich nations and the poor nations. The people inside the lifeboats are doubling in numbers every 87 years; those swimming around outside are doubling, on the average, every 35 years, more than twice as fast as the rich. And since the world's resources are dwindling, the difference in prosperity between the rich and the poor can only increase. As of 1973, the U.S. had a population of 210 million people, who were increasing by 0.8 percent per year. Outside our lifeboat, let us imagine another 210 million people (say the combined populations of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Morocco, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines) who are increasing at a rate of 3.3 percent per year. Put differently, the doubling time for this aggregate population is 21 years, compared to 87 years for the U.S. The harsh ethics of the lifeboat become harsher when we consider the reproductive differences between rich and poor. http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_lifeboat_ethics_case_against_helping_poor.html Hardin’s lifeboat ethics

15. Population growth is inevitable Moral Arguments – Not to help We have a positive obligation not to feed the starving It only prolongs suffering Caused by nature – land cannot sustain the people

16. We ought to do nothing at all! A crude utilitarian analysis

17. Stability – low birth rates parallel low death rates Demographic Transition Theory High birth rate, high death rate – still steady population growth Death rate declines, birth rate stays high – high population growth Birth rate declines more than death rate – slow population growth

18. No obligation at all – purely optional Possible Obligations Positive obligation to help Positive obligation not to help Negative obligation to help A duty to do x A duty not to do y Charity A duty not to do x

19. Really an issue of prioritisation – whether we should give and to which causes Charity Distinction between being charitable and to whom we should be charitable Kantian perspective of imperfect duty No individual to whom a duty is owed Cannot force charity eg through taxation

20. Social Justice - Globally

21. John Rawls 1921 - 2002

22. 1. Each person to enjoy maximum liberty compatible with all enjoying similar systems 2. Social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are a) To the greatest benefit of the least advantaged b) Attached to offices and positions open to all This is what Rawls calls the difference principle This means equality of opportunity Combined effect is to maximise the position of the least well off – ‘maximin’

23. Robert Nozick 1938 - 2002

24. Distribution of Goods Goods are not ‘up for grabs’ Holdings have a history which confers entitlements Holdings come into the world already owned Redistribution can occur with consent Taxation is slavery

25. Communitarian Ethics Compassion Love Solidarity Humanity

26. In any event we would have to counter the ‘not help’ argument Moral Arguments –to help Must assist – utilitarian position Must assist – people have a right to food Problem of rights with no correlative duties

27. But these are largely empirical issues – what of the moral? Wider Perspectives Starvation is not simply a natural phenomenon – nor caused by natural events alone Social, political and economic factors The lives of the starving are dependant on the actions of others The issue is not typically the availability of food, it’s the entitlement to it

28. We can act – we should act What obligations do we have? ? Coerce the relevant national government Set up trade relations Are we obliged to ensure that they have adequate food entitlements

29. Global economics A strong obligation to assist The vulnerable eg children – cannot help their plight Dependency

30. It can be achieved (earlier argument countered) – so we are in the territory of simple collective and individual responsibilities Duty to rectify injustice Distant suffering assumes we are not responsible for the situation – we are – this supports negative duties to assist – and ‘ordinary’ positive duties We caused the plight The arguments in favour

31. Discussion Portsmouth – Calais Christian Perspectives – Christian Aid Economic realities Disease, drugs, drug development

32. La Follette, H. World Hunger In: Frey, R.G. and Wellman, C. A Companion to Applied Ethics (2003). Oxford: Blackwell