Famine, Affluence and Morality by Peter Singer

Key ideas & Notes

• Article originally published in 1972 in the third issue of a newly launched Philosophy & Public Affairs journal

• Written at the height of the refugee crisis brought about by military repression in what was then called east Pakistan

• Up until late 1960s ethics and philosophy was not seen as something practical and applicable but rather something that’s theoretical and which does not have much application in real life

• Original estimate of the cost of saving a life have been revised since from about $200 to just under $5000

• In the drowning child example based on studies, the decisive factor how much people feel obliged to help is the physical distance or proximity to the drowning child

• Our moral intuitions tend to be based on evolution and tend to favour what we can see in front of us rather than events happening far away be it from a distance perspective or time perspective

• 6 million premature deaths every year from poverty related causes (2016)

• This essay is the de facto foundational article of the Effective Altruism movement

If 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.

• The implication of the above is that there should be no distinction in terms of physical or temporal distance. also it implies that there is no distinction between cases in which I am the only person who could possibly do anything in cases in which I am just one of many in the same position

• A psychological difference in how we feel about a situation does not justify or imply a moral difference

Because giving money is regarded as an act of charity it is not thought that there is anything wrong with not giving the charitable man they be praised by the man who is not charitable is not condemned. This way of looking at the matter cannot be justified.

• Supererogatory act - an act which it would be good to do but not wrong not to do

• Societies have rules and duties to enable the society to function to prohibit behaviour that is intolerable if men are to live together as a society.

From the point of view of a particular society it is essential to prevent violations of norms against killing stealing and so on. It is quite inessential, however, to help people outside one’s own society. If this is an explanation of a common distinction between duty and supererogation however it is not a justification of it. The moral point of view requires us to look beyond the interests of our own society.

• The fact that we find particular actions too difficult or too morally demanding does not refute the fact that they are morally right.

• In the essay Singer actively invites and challenges philosophers to do as they preach and to demonstrate their active commitment to the principles of morality

• According to the Global Forum for Health Research less than 10% of the worlds health research budget is spent on combating conditions that account for 90% of the global burden of disease. (2006)

• Herbert Simon: the social capital is responsible for at least 90% of what people earn in wealthy societies like those of the United States or north Western Europe. By social capital Simon meant not only natural resources but, more important, the technology and organisational skills of the community and the presence of good government.

The scale of the nations that is unlikely to impose significant hardship on anyone yields a total of $404 billion from just 10% of American families

• Annual cost of meeting the millennium development goals was $121 billion in 2006 and $189 billion in 2015