PPP Final Exam

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Recommended: Essays on ethics in education

As Peter Singer points out, ethics is not religion, not sexual restriction, nor is it a subjective entity. Ethics involves the human person as an agent of action and focuses on defining the actions that each person makes as either good or bad. However, it is more than just a list of rules telling a person not to cheat, steal, or kill. This is key because one student who cheats on a test may think it is ethically right to do so because he or she needs to earn a good mark in the class, whereas a different student may think it is wrong because cheating would mean a person did not put the effort into studying. Both students are doing what they think is right, even though they are doing two completely different things. One point that Singer makes is that, “The notion of living according to ethical standards is tied up with the notion of defending the way on is living, of giving a reason for it, of justifying it” (9). But usually, if the reason is selfish, people judge it as being unethical because it is for the person’s good, not for others. Therefore, for an action to be truly ethical, it must be unselfish and directed for the good of others.
This kind of ethics is supported by the subfield called utilitarianism, which is a view Singer supports. Utilitarianism weighs the consequences of an action with the benefits. If the action has more benefits than consequences, then the action is ethical. This relies on the assumption that the idea of universality. It is this assumption that all people have the same idea of what an ethical action is that is the basis of Singer’s argument for the principle of equal consideration of interests. The principle of equal consideration of interests puts all people on the same level and does not favour ...

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...e them.
These are all the reasons Singer gives for the argument that we should help the poor. Using the theories of principle of equal interests and obligation to assist, Singer implies that it is ethically viable to help these people. Because not helping them would be like ignoring their interests, which is bad. Also, because most of us have the means to help them and it would not go against our own morals. Clearly, in the way that Singer presents the issue, we should actively work to help the less-fortunate and to establish a system of distributive justice.

Works Cited

Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. 1980. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.
Statistics Canada, CANSIM table 202-0802 and Catalogue no. 75-202-X. Ottawa, Ontario. June 27, 2013. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil19e-eng.htm. Web. December 9, 2013.

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