Obligations Regarding World Suffering and Poverty

Obligations Regarding World Suffering and Poverty

Singer’s argument—

1.  “[S]uffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care is bad.” (p. 599)

2.  “[I]f it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought morally, to do it.” (p. 599)

3.  Therefore, we (in the United States and other wealthy societies) ought to give our money to charitable relief organizations rather than spending it on luxuries and other non-necessities for ourselves.

Obligations to Animals

Singer’s argument—

1.  The suffering of one being should “be counted equally with the like suffering…of any other being.” (“principle of equal considerations of interests,” “principle of equality” – p. 601)

2.  Therefore, speciesism (i.e., regarding the interests of one species—humans—as more important than the interests of another species—e.g., cattle, deer} is morally wrong.