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¶ … Peter Singer's "The Singer Solution World Poverty"
Peter Albert David Singer, an Australian philosopher is serving as a professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and laureate Professor at the Center for applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne. His specialization is in applied ethics and his approach on ethical issues is based on secular, preference utilitarian perspective. Singer is considered as the most controversial ethicist. In his book "Singer's Solution to World Poverty," he has tried to present hypothetical situations each of which displaying a moral stature and inhuman side of the human nature. These hypothetical situations were, however very close to the practical life experience and a symbolic representation of moral dilemmas which society member's goes through. Nevertheless, I don't hold all these hypothetical situations to represent inhumane element of man's nature. Morality, ethical perspective and social responsibility are all considered as man's duty when living in a society yet these are relative concepts which can't be imposed on anyone.
The first hypothetical situation is taken from the Brazilian film "Central Station" in which Dora named retired school teacher earns her living by sitting on the station and writing letters for illiterate people. She was given the opportunity...
This money can change her quality of life and will make her enjoy some bounties of life which she can't afford with the current earning. The morality of this earning is from assessing the sources of income and its purpose. She has been asked to provide a street boy for adoption. Dora did as she was asked for and receives her amount. She has spent some of the money on buying a new TV set. Later it was disclosed in the news that the boy was too old for adoption and the real motive behind it was to sell the organs for money. Dora then decided to save the child by risking her own. This situation has awaken the human soul and teaches a lesson of not being materialistic to that extend that your actions risk the life of others no matter it's just a street boy, every life is important.
If Dora wouldn't have helped the boy escape, her reaction would have been criticized by masses in the society. It would have been morally controversial act because she deserves to enjoy the benefits of life and better quality of living but not on the expense of taking innocent life or harming other person's right of living. Getting the opportunity of good living enjoyed by each citizen and adopting illegal ways to enjoy better living are two different aspects. The former is morally and ethically correct but the later portrays the…
Peter Singer and Chitra Divakaruni each offer a powerful commentary on world poverty. Both of their respective essays, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" and "Live Free and Starve" demonstrate good writing skills and rhetoric are therefore worthy pieces for inclusion into any book club. However, of the two authors only Divakaruni has first-hand experience of poverty. Singer's argument, while more shocking and powerful than Divakaruni's, falls short because of
Famine, Affluence, and Morality" (1972) by Peter Singer introduces its readers to numerous social issues that Singer states have been vastly ignored. The issues deal with the lack of progress in the betterment of society and although the article was originally written more than four decades ago, the situation around the globe remains unchanged. Singer's goal in this article is to present a side not widely taken. To him, the
Global Poverty The World Bank (2012) points out that "…nearly 1.3 billion people remain below the extreme poverty line with an income of U.S. $1.25 or less a day." The global financial institution further points out that "another 2.6 billion live on less than U.S. $2 a day, another common measurement of deep deprivation"(World Bank, 2012). It is important to note that although inequalities in terms of wealth exist regardless of
Ethics and Morality -- Ethics and Development The problem of "development" (or, perhaps "progress" and "advancement" also fits in this context) is that while many millions of citizens of the world have been blessed by dramatic progress (technological, industrial, and communications) over the past few decades, many millions are being left behind. Indeed, while millions are living better, living more comfortable lives, countless millions are not benefiting in the least from
Family Affluence and Morality Famine, Affluence, Morality by Peter Singer Peter Singer's article has been reviewed with the intention of understanding his basic ideas about poverty and hunger alleviation. Simultaneously the many criticisms associated with his arguments have also been highlighted with a view to rebutting them and proving the feasibility of Singer's noble ideas. "Famine, Affluence, Morality" is a famous dissertation scripted by Peter Singer in 1971. It aims to modify the
One of Kilby's contentions, however, was that Australia's hypothesis that increased economic growth would result to poverty reduction is a framework that is not responsive to the realities of poor, developing countries, which are almost always the recipients of AusAID's aid program. The author's claim is that AusAID's thrust -- that economic growth will result to reduced poverty -- is developed from a neoliberalist framework, which is not as responsive