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Famine Affluence And Morality Peter Singer Summary

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Since humans are not infallible, tragedies such as war, disease, and poverty occur in today’s society. In order to reduce these tragedies, concerned citizen ask questions about how to go about solving the problem of global poverty which leads to malnourishment and possibly even death. Philosopher Peter Singer argues that in order to minimize the effects of global poverty and its related illnesses, mankind has an obligation to help those who are suffering by giving up luxuries and much of their income. He believes that helping others is a necessity and an obligatory action because humans have the power to aid others without making a tremendous moral sacrifice. In this paper, I will argue Singer’s belief is not convincing because everyone has a different and unique living situation and may have risen up from poverty themselves, therefore, citizens living in affluent countries do not need to give up luxuries and much of one’s income to aid in global poverty.

In his article, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”, Peter Singer attempts to convince his …show more content…
If everyone has the same amount of resources and income, then there would be no competition in life or no desire to the desire to strive to reach further goals and accomplishments. Even though people may argue that an end to global poverty would be beneficial, there is also a slight possibility for it to have the opposite effect. If society would reach an end to global poverty, people may feel the urge to not go to work because resources will be provided to them by those who make a significantly higher income than they do. Therefore, if everyone who was struggling knew that they could receive some type of support to get by financially, they may choose to give up and just stop trying to make their lives

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