OPPapers.com

Famine, Affluence, And Morality

"Famine, Affluence, and Morality"

In "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," Peter Singer is trying to argue that "the way people in relatively affluent countries react to a situation… cannot be justified; indeed,… our moral conceptual scheme needs to be altered and with it, the way of life that has come to be taken for granted in our society"(Singer 230).   Peter Singer provides striking examples to show the reader how realistic his arguments are.   In this paper, I will briefly give a summary of Peter Singer's argument and the assumptions that follow, adding personal opinions for or against Peter's statements.   I hope that within this paper, I am able to be clearly show you my thoughts in regards to Singer.
Peter Singer organizes his arguments into an outline form allowing a reader to take individual thoughts, adding them together giving a "big picture."   Within the first few pages, Singer shares two guiding assumptions in regards to his argument to which I stated above.   The first assumption states "that suffering and death from lack of food, shelter and medical care are bad" (231).   Singer steps away from the typical writing style; he states the assumption yet he does not give a personal comment in regards to the assumption.   He chooses to do so because the assumption itself is surely uncontroversial; most people would agree, but to those who don't agree, there are so many possibilities at which to arrive to this assumption that, after all, if they don't yet comprehend its truth, it would be hard to convince them of its accuracy.   Speaking for myself, if I encountered an individual that does not agree to the assumption that death by avoidable causes is bad; I would not hesitate to declare them of being heartless.   There are many cases, whether across oceans on foreign land or areas to which we live, where people are dying because of inescapable, unfortunate reasons.   Within such cases, even a possible little voice in the back of the head can lead one to wonder...