How Far Does Our Moral Obligation Extend?

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How far do our moral obligations extend? Is saving a drowning child right in front of us enough? Should we give everything we possibly can to those less fortunate across the world? With these problem question there are two types of acts that follow. One is supererogatory and the other is obligatory. A supererogatory act is an act that is good but is acceptable not to perform. An obligatory act is an act that it would be wrong or unacceptable not to form. Peter Singer has very strong opinions concerning the global poor population. This paper will share his theory, provide some objections to his theory and explain why his theory in reason has good intentions.
Singer believes that we have a moral obligation to help the global poor that is as strong as our obligation to save a child drowning in front of us. His theory states:
(P1) Suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care is bad
(P2) If it is within our power to stop something bad from happening without sacrificing anything morally significant, we ought to do so.
(P3) It is within our power to stop some suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care without sacrificing anything morally significant
(C) We ought to stop the suffering and death we can stop without sacrificing anything morally significant.
First off, the drowning child should be discussed. Imagine one morning your just walking by a shallow pond, than you happen to see a small child who appears to be drowning. Should you go in after the child? The obvious answer is yes. Singer ties this kind of reasoning to the situating concerning the global poor. One thing usually questioned between these cases is distance. Singer doesn't feel this is of importance. We may be...

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...nce and your actions versus others. Distance doesn't decide the level of moral obligation someone should feel for a situation. Whether it's a drowning child right in front of me or a starving child halfway across the world they both deserve the same moral obligation from people. Ill agree it's a lot easier to care for the drowning child right in front of me but it doesn't decide which circumstance deserves more attention. Your actions shouldn't depend on the actions of those around you. To an extent your morally obligated to do some things but you shouldn't just accept this and go on with life. If your able to go above and beyond what's expected, then you should. There's some people out there that would love to get out and help but cant because of various reasons. Giving to those less fortunate should be considered more of a group thing not individualistic.

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