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Is There A Moral Obligation To Help
Is There A Moral Obligation To Help
housed, and well fed. However, this condition is still not true for the majority of human
beings. For this reason, it has been argued whether there is an obligation to help
strangers. Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher, proposes that it is our duty to give aid
as much as possible. On the other hand, John Arthur disagrees with Singer’s philosophy
which Arthur describes as “greater moral evil rule” (375) since it is unpractical and
ignores basic human rights. James Shikwati, a Kenyan libertarian economist, also
Finally, I believe that it is your choice not a duty whether you want to help sufferers or
not. If you are willing to help, educational assistance is the most reasonable support.
lack of necessities, or insufficient housing; thus, Singer believes it is our duty to help
suffering people if we can. His most important promise is that “...suffering and death
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from a lack of food, clothing, adequate shelter, and medical care are bad” (368). This is
a fundamental moral and Singer believes everyone agrees with this. Based on this
guarantee, he further, and equally importantly, explains that “if it is in our power to
comparable moral importance, we ought to, morally, to do it.” (369). In other words, if
people do not do anything to help strangers even though they have a capacity to do so,
Singer considers this as a wrong. For example, if a man sees a child drowning, he has to
help the child even though he becomes dirty because the child’s life is much more
important (369). As a consequence, like this child case, people have an obligation to
rescue strangers when they are in the capacity to do so. Another reason to people’s
obligation to help is in which Singer does not see any difference between “duty and
charity” (371). In a common sense, “charity” (371) such as donating money is treated as
charitable. For instance, nobody who is having a gorgeous dinner is seen immoral.
However, Singer claims that even if people do not have a luxurious meal, they would
not starve since they can buy a reasonable meal instead. As a result of this, they can give
meals to other hungry strangers. As long as people are able to help, they ought to do it
because this action is not “charity” but “duty” (371). To conclude, people should be
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obligated to rescue strangers unless it invades their moralities.
According to Singer, besides our obligations, people should decide how much
to support strangers suffering based on their demands for aid. Primarily, distance should
not be a significant factor to decide whether to help. This is because in this highly
developed civilization, people are able to travel all over the world, and they can watch
world wide news easily. Hence, distance should not be a big difference between saving
a drowning neighbor child and saving an African child. “The level of marginal utility”
(373) is another important aspect to judge how much aid we should give. That is, people
have to be helpful until they harm themselves as long as they keep donating. For
instance, Canadians are able to give aid until they become a same level with “a Bengal
refugee” (373). Therefore, according to his philosophy, people ought to donate as much
In comparison, Arthur explains a Singer’s idea as “the greater moral evil rule”
or GME (375) and claims that it takes no notice of the “rights and desert” (377). Desert
in this meaning is just reward or punishment. The most important aspect in which GME
should not ignore is “rights” (378). From Arthur’s point of view, there are two
significant human rights which are “negative rights” (378) and “positive rights” (378).
“Negative rights” (378), “rights of noninterference” (378) in another word, are rights
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not to be interfered by anyone such as a right not to be killed. The other rights which are
also ignored by GME are “positive rights” (378) same as called “rights of percipience”
(378). These rights are based on agreements. As long as people have an agreement
something, they have a right to receive it. For instance, Langara College students have
rights to attend class since they paid tuitions. In these two rights, we are not required to
help in need. In addition to rights, GME should care about “desert” (378). As an
example, a hard working farmer is able to harvest a lot of wheat as a result of his great
effort. On the other hand, a lazy farmer is starving because of his idleness (378). In this
case, the hard working farmer should not have any obligation to give wheat to the lazy
farmer. Thus, GME should consider “fairness, justice, and respect” (379). Ultimately,
Arthur argues that Singer does not explain why GME ignores “rights and desert” (377).
Like Arthur, Shikwati also strongly disagrees with GME because Shikwati
asserts in which developed countries should not give any aid to developing countries in
Africa because it destroys their countries. The most dangerous effect on developing
dollars actually go. It often goes to their governments who store money instead of
buying food for street children. Also, many people are more likely to look for aid
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instead of making their own efforts to solve their problems. Therefore, people tend to
risk is in which food aid destroys their economy. To illustrate, when a country receives
food from United Nations World Food Program, it high likely goes into a black market,
and these foods are sold in extreme cheap prices. As a consequence, local farmers can
not compete with these foods, so local farmers are more likely to lose their jobs. For
that reason, they have to depend on UN food again (382). Shikwati explains “it is a
simple but fatal cycle” (382). Gradually, donation has a similar bad influence. Namely, a
unreasonable cheap prices. Have a same effect as food aid; no one buys from local
factories, being out of a business. Indeed, a Nigeria’s fabric industry had employed
137,000 workers in 1997. In 2003, the number of employees in this industry was just
It may be contend that Africans would starve or lose their jobs if development
would lose jobs. However, most people are not affiliated. People must change the
situations themselves. Necessarily, they have to make their own businesses. For
example, Kenyans have to trade with Uganda or Tanzania in order to succeed their
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businesses. These movements encourage them to make the most important
infrastructures and it leads to make laws (383). Furthermore, Africa’s countries have a
lot of natural recourses such as oil, gold, and diamonds indeed (383). This is a great
Based on these three philosophers, it has been argued that “duty” (371) by
Singer is “we ought to [help], wrong not to do so” (372). Granted, help is a primarily
important morality in human beings. Nevertheless, I think that “help” be your “choice”,
but not your “duty” (Singer, 371). What I mean by “help” is taking care of an universal
family. Before achieving this “help”, I recommend that people should take care of a
“help” have to take this first step. After that, people are able to care of an universal
considers that no one would accomplish this unrealistic responsibility if that were a
“duty” (371). Hence, people would not satisfy with their lives. Inevitably, instead of
would be content with them when they succeed in caring their own families. As Mother
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Teresa said “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one” (The Quotations
Page). Ultimately, we should have a right to take care of a personal family and a
371), can be suggested that education aid is the most recommended support. The most
significant reason why education aid is the best is this helps people to be independent.
Here is a well-known Chinese proverb that “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for
today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed for a lifetime” (The Quotations Page). That
is instead of donating products or money; people should provide means of products. For
successful education aid. In Kenya, due to a shortage of teachers and expensive school
fees, a majority of children were not able to go to schools, but today, thanks to “Free
Education” (Gehring, 2003, p. 8), millions of children can attend class and study. Result
from an education; children are able to access various opportunities such as reading
books and learning the world. Meanwhile, they are more likely to be successful business
men, independent, and generous to the countries. In short, not only makes an education
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important, I disagree with Singer’s philosophy since this is unrealistic and too strict. If I
followed his theory, I should not be here; instead I should go to Africa to help sufferers.
due to lack of my current skills. Therefore, it is more reasonable to stay here and get an
education. Gradually, I will live my own life and succeed in caring for my own family.
Finally I will take care of an “universal family” with my accomplished skills. I believe
this is more an effective and realistic idea than Singer’s theory. Therefore, even though
people do not follow his philosophy, they can still be able to help many sufferers like
Bill Gates. He has succeeded in his own life and now he is contributing his wealth all
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References
Arthur, John. “World Hunger and Moral Obligation: The Case against Singer”
Vice and Virtue in Everyday Life Introductory Readings in Ethics edited by Christina
Sommers and Fred.7th ed. Belmont:CA, 2007. 375-380.
“Chinese Proverb” The Quotations Page. (n,d,) Retrieved October 21, 2006,
from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2279.html
Gehring, John (April 16, 2003). Children Flood Kenyan Schools to get a Free
Education. Educational Week. (22)31, 8-10. Retrieved October 22, 2006, from
EBSCOhost database.
“Mother Teresa” The Quotations Page. (n,d,) Retrieved October 21, 2006, from
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/4628.html
Shikwati, James. “For Heaven’s Sake, Please Stop the Aid!” Vice and Virtue in
Everyday Life Introductory Readings in Ethics edited by Christina Sommers and
Fred.7th ed. Belmont:CA, 2007. 381-385.
Singer, Peter. “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” Vice and Virtue in Everyday
Life Introductory Readings in Ethics edited by Christina Sommers and Fred.7th ed.
Belmont:CA, 2007. 367-374.
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