Peter Singer Argument

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Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer argues that those who are located in countries that are considered wealthy must drastically change, not only the way they live their life, but also their idea of morality so that then they can become devoted to helping those who are in need. Singer begins his argument by asking those reading to reflect upon cases of famine, such as the case in 1971, where people in Bengal were severely suffering and neither individuals nor governments proceeded to do anything that would have helped to get rid of the situation. He arranges the platform for his argument by setting forth two principles. The first principle is that death and suffering are bad, whether it be from deficient housing, hunger, or insufficient…show more content…
More often than not, the majority of people feel as if they have the upmost right to contribute whatever they please to charity, whether they choose to donate nothing, a hefty amount, or a little something in between. According to Singer this is a mistake. The money that affluent nations use on extravagances should be, instead, contributed to charity since the needy and the poor need it to live. Donating their money to assist them is not only virtuous, it’s necessary. The difference concerning what is virtuous and what is necessary may possibly still be present, but it does not relate to circumstances where wealthy people can aid the needy and…show more content…
His arguments stemmed from two principles, one which is that death and suffering are bad, whether it be from deficient housing, hunger, or insufficient medical care and another that states if a person is in the position to inhibit a state of affairs that are morally bad, without having to sacrifice something that is of approximately equal importance morally, then one should proceed to do so. Even after hearing Singer’s position, one can say that he was mistaken in his thought process. Meaning that one may not actually have to contribute as much as Singer thinks that they should. This would be due to the fact that people should have the ultimate decision to choose the amount that they would like to contribute with no type of force exerted upon them. All in all, the fact that the poor needs help will never go away, the matter of who and why one should donate is up to

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