Analysis Of Peter Singer's The Obligation To Assist

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Peter Singer’s position in his work “The Obligation to Assist”, is that all people are morally obligated to help one another without it causing any additional harm. He refers to “comparable moral significance”, which means that helping another must not cause anything worse to happen, or be a morally wrong action in and of itself, and must also be done if a comparably awful event can be stopped. His first premise is that if absolute poverty is wrong, and it can be stopped without worse consequences, then it should be stopped altogether. His second premise is that if you were to see a drowning child, you would help them out of the lake, even if your coat happens to get wet. His third premise is that morals do not need to be examined, as the need to help others should be logical without examining the morality behind it. His final premise is that the First World is rich enough to reduce poverty, and can therefore feel obligated to help. The implication of this position is that no matter what situation surrounds the person in need of help, another person would be obligated to assist them. Thusly, people who could help without having to forgo “comparable moral significance” and refrain from …show more content…

His premises are that if everyone is unselfish, there will be no-one to be unselfish for, unselfishness is a pointless goal to achieve, as the act of giving continues with no clear end, and that giving up happiness to another in an unselfish world would only cause that happiness to continually be given away. The largest implication of his position is that people who act in unselfish ways are perpetuating an endless cycle, where no one is truly content. Moreover, Browne’s position implies that people who are selfish are in the right, as they are not sacrificing their happiness only for it to be given to someone

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