Analysis Of Affluence And Morality By Peter Singer

In the text Famine, Affluence and Morality, Peter Singer theorizes that many developed countries like the United States should be eager and ready to engage in activities that would aid in the extinction of famine and disasters that occur throughout the world. It is clear that Singer believes that this can only be accomplished once developed nations realize that there is an ethical duty to do so. Throughout this text Singer states three obligations that would help the Bengal region, which is the example he uses to help state his case. These three obligations can be summed up as: 1. Death and suffering caused by lack of necessities are bad. 2. If someone can prevent something bad from happening without creating harm to themselves then they should. 3. One must contribute as much as they possibly can in order to avoid the problems of death and suffering in under developed countries. The first main objective that Singer specifies is that Americans have the moral obligation to assist and support nations that suffer from disasters and not because the country is wealthy. However, the sad truth is that many Americans may …show more content…
Therefore, he feels that the action of saving the child is morally justified because many people believe, for obvious reasons, that it is terrible to allow a child to drown without any attempt to save them. However, Singer’s counter argument proposes that since there are several witnesses, then what is the reason for saving the boy if there are others that could partake in the same rescue. He asks the question, why is it one person’s moral responsibility to save the child if nobody else is attempting to save the child. Singer then continues to explain that we have moral obligations to keep bad situations from happening regardless if anyone else is doing so or