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Peter Singer Famine, Affluence And Morality

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Article Summary, Paraphrase, Quotation Paper
I. Article Summary
In his article titled “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”, Peter Singer aims to show that we are morally obligated to help those in need. He begins by mentioning the situation in East Bengal where millions are dying due to lack of food and medical attention. He mentions that the situation is terrible but not hopeless. Singer says that the help being offered by the individuals and by the government is nowhere near the kind of help that the situation requires to be resolved. He argues that people especially those living an affluent lifestyle need to alter their entire perception of morality. He puts forward the assumption he relies on in order to continue with his argument (automatically considering that assumption to be true): death and suffering due to the lack of basic necessities of life are bad. Singer then states the principle which is if we can prevent terrible occurrences without sacrificing something of equal moral significance then we should go ahead and do so; this principle plays a major role in his argument. Next, he puts forward a more moderate version of the principle by replacing equal moral significance with anything of moral significance. The nature of the principle, according to Singer, is contentious, for if applied has the potential to change everything about our values and lives. One of the reasons as to why that is the case is that the principle does not care for the proximity of the one

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