Peter Singer Famine Affluence And Morality Analysis

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Reading this essay in hope of finding a definite answer to whether or not Australia has any sort of moral obligations to help developing countries however I cannot speak for an entire country but I can give you reasons for and against helping countries in need. This essay cannot speak for an entire country for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Australia is so full of diversity, there is nowhere in Australia without at least 10 different cultures. In saying that, every culture’s morals are different. Secondly, with numerous cultures come all types of religion. “Moral behaviour, which is defined by a given religion, is usually believed to be an essential part to that religion’s practice (Pojman, 2009).” Even people who choose not follow religion still have a moral guideline that they follow. Everyone comes from different cultures or believes in different religions or no religion, so how can you expect a solid answer when so many people have so many different beliefs in what is right and what is wrong. However if we just look at four theories that promote charity these four theories are Egoism, Utilitarianism, Kantianism and the Virtue theory. Egoism states that charity maximises self-interest. Whereas Utilitarianism affirms that charity maximises general pleasure for the most amount of people. However Kantianism declares that giving to charity is a ration duty. Then again the virtue theory verbalises that charity promotes human flourishing. No matter how each theory portrays why people should donate to charities, it doesn’t take away from the fact that they are all saying the same thing. Everybody has a right to do whatever they think will give them the most satisfaction out of life, whether that is donating money for a charity or not, it is their decision. Ethical egoism is the moral view that everyone ought always to do those acts that will best serve his or her own best self-interest. That is, morally right actions are those that maximise the best interest of oneself, even when it conflicts with the interests of others. The topic of poverty is highly discussed, and a philosopher that really shines a light into this topic is Peter Singer. …show more content…
Singer is a promoter of effective altruism. He argues that people should not only try to reduce suffering, but reduce it in the most efficient manner possible. In particular, he develops some of the arguments made in his 1972 essay Famine, Affluence and Morality, in which he implies that citizens of rich nations are morally obligated to give at least some of their disposable salary to charities that help the global poor. He supports this by using an analogy about a drowning child, which declares that most people would rescue a drowning child from a pond, even if it meant that their expensive clothes were ruined, so we clearly value a human life more than the value of our material possessions. As a result, we should take a significant portion of the money that we spend on our possessions and instead donate it to charity. However, a point that Mr Singer made in his paper that the fact that if a person is physically near us, we shall be more likely to help them but it does not say that we ought to help them rather than someone who is further away. Admittedly, it is possible that we are in a better position to judge what needs to be done to help a person near us than one that is half way across the world. If this were the case it would be a reason to help those near us first. Many Australian’s would agree due to the fact that we still have so many cities within Australia which have children living on …show more content…
Hobbes believed that human beings always act out of perceived self-interest; that we invariably seek gratification and avoid harm. From Hobbes perspective morality consists of a set of rules such that if nearly everyone follows them then nearly everyone will flourish. These rules restrict our freedom but promote greater freedom and wellbeing. “More specifically the five social benefits of establishing and following moral rules accomplish the following; Keep society from falling, Reduce human suffering, Promote human flourishing, Resolve conflicts of interest in just and orderly ways, Assign praise and blame, reward and punishment and guilt (Pojman, L.

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