Peter Singer Utilitarianism

Poverty affects over 767 million people in the entire world. In the United States alone, poverty affects more than 42 million people. According to feedingamerica.org, of that 42 million affected, 13 million children and over 5 million seniors live in poverty. Poverty is grouped into two different categories; absolute and relative. Wikipedia.org defines absolute poverty as the absence of enough resources to secure basic life necessities. This includes not having safe drinking water, not having clean bathroom facilities, not being able to get proper healthcare, not having access to education and not having proper shelter. Absolute poverty is also referred to as living in extreme poverty. Relative poverty, according to wikipedia.org, is the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live. The meaning of poverty varies from country to country and person to person. For example, while some people in the United States would be considered as living below the poverty line, a person from another country may consider that person rich. However, poverty is simply when an individual is unable to meet their basic needs. This includes not being able to clothed, house or feed oneself or one’s family. Poverty is a problem that will not be easily solved. There have been many attempts to try and end poverty, but yet it continues to grow. In a country such as the United States that’s

Hook. Both John Stuart Mill and Peter Singer approach moral philosophy from a utilitarian perspective. In this paper, I will argue that Singer’s and Mill’s utilitarian philosophies share numerous similarities but also differ. Singer and Mill agree on the importance of selflessness, the idea that we can end human suffering, and the significance of consequences. However, their views conflict concerning the relevance of motivation. I contend that Singer improves upon Mill’s utilitarianism since Singer accurately recognizes the discrepancy between a life of absolute affluence and absolute poverty and also wrestles with the intricate concept of motive.

I agree with Peter Singer’s argument that most people in affluent societies are morally required to give more of their money and resources to combating global poverty and famine than they currently do. This will be supported by the utilitarian argument, that net utility should always be maximised, by exploring his belief that this should be obligatory rather than supererogatory as well as investigating the influence of basic physical and psychological needs. I will also argue against the “Demandingness Objection”, a strong objection to Singer’s views.

, 2010)” Singer believes that we have the power to help people and that we should donate all of our money that we do not need, but he says that it “is not a charitable act” but more “a fundamental duty which we are morally bound to fulfil. Moreover, the amount of money we should give is significant: even acting on the qualified argument would mean giving substantial amounts of our money away (Cottingham, 1986) (Hardin, 1974).” Singers’ arguments are of a Utilitarian View, he wants the most happiness for the most people. Giving your power and money to those who do not have it will bring more happiness to more people in this world. In his second argument Singer states that suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care is bad. We take these basic needs for granted. Singer has said that he will not argue this view. Singer says that if we can prevent something bad without sacrificing anything of even more moral importance, we are morally obliged to (Soderburg, n.d.). When people are suffering and not even getting the basic necessities needed for a decent quality of life. Singer argues that all people should be on the same level, in

According to Pogge (2008), poverty is a state at which individuals are not able to fulfill their basic human needs of food, shelter and clothing. This is taken in the context of quality and insufficient amounts in quantity. Poverty is categorized into two main classes, absolute and relative

Singer argues that we should give only ten percent of our annual income to charitable organizations in order to alleviate global suffering. This isn’t hard Singer proposes because it means cutting out everything that’s not required for preservation of life and health. He argues that this is not a sacrifice, given that we aren’t losing anything of comparable moral importance. Singer fixates on the fact that when we choose to spend our money on going out for fancy dinners, or purchase luxury goods, we are not living “morally decent

Global poverty is a complex issue that cannot simply be explained by income or economics. By using a sociological perspective, global poverty

Utilitarianism states, “The morally right action is determined by the consequences of the action, not the motives of the agent”. Utilitarianisms consider happiness to be the foundation of morality. The famous version, “act utilitarianism,” says the morally right action is the one that brings about the greatest consequence of the greatest number of people. Mill thought it was obvious that everyone ultimately wants to be happy, so he made this the foundation of his moral philosophy. Mill notice that people were literally defining utility as the opposite of pleasure and not understanding the complete purpose of utilitarianism. Whereas, utility is defined, “As pleasure itself together with freedom from

Poverty for centuries has been a very severe issue that has troubled many nations while impeding economic developments and progress. Poverty stricken countries are majorly concentrated in the continents of Africa and Asia. Continents like the Americas and Europe have globally been recognized as been wealthier yet still many parts of these ostensible countries face massive cases of poverty. Most at times, countries with high populations owing to high birth rates face the most cases of poverty. The definition of poverty can be boundless in the sense that poverty entails so many subsections as it sometimes gets complicated to group everything under one umbrella. Society tends to focus more on the tangible aspects of poverty because many people associate poverty with lacking money and it makes sense because poverty in terms of lacking money is a major problem affecting almost every country in the world. Even though it is debatable that poverty can be physical, intellectual, spiritual and even emotional, it is best to talk about the lack of money and economic developments in this essay. With reference to the oxford English Dictionary, poverty is state of being extremely poor and the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. Reflecting on this definition given, I deduced that malnutrition and hunger can define poverty. In the light of this, I think poverty is lacking a comfortable place of shelter, being ill and not having access to a better

Poverty is a persisting, global issue. It not only affects people in developing or “poor” countries, but can also be found in developed nations such as the US. Although it is true that poverty in the US is different from poverty experienced by people in (i.e.) the Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, or Guinea, experiences of hunger and despair may be shared. With this in mind, the issue of poverty may be one of definition. Actually, what is poverty? Is it the state of being extremely poor, of living on less than $2.50 a day? Of not having adequate access to clean drinking water or electricity; suffering from malnutrition and hunger; lacking access to adequate healthcare and/or vaccinations; and the absence of basic

Relative poverty has been defined as the level of deprivation, where individuals are unable to play the roles, participate in the relationships, and follow the custom behavior that is expected of them by virtue of their being in society. Inequality tends to influence people’s perceptions of poverty. “Policymakers and analysts use poverty rate to measure programmatic successes and failures and to create, defend, and dispute new policy initiatives” (Oslen pg. 4) The level that any poverty line is set to may be considered random and debatable. Poverty is the inability of having choices and opportunities, a transgression of human dignity. It is a lack of capacity to participate effectively in society.

Poverty is the state of being extremely poor and it takes place in many countries’ causing problems affecting children, families, and individuals.

Utilitarianism is the moral theory that emphasizes “the greatest happiness for the greatest number” (Clark, Poortenga, 2003). John Stuart Mill was a philosopher who believed in the principles of utilitarianism. He believed that humans desire for happiness and pleasure; therefore humans would be motivated to act morally in order to obtain that happiness (Clark, Poortenga, 2003). Mill’s approach has strengths, weaknesses, and is not fully equipped to hold true for all circumstances.

When it comes to poverty, there is the magnitude of definitions explaining the term. The definition of poverty has important implications from point of view of policy making, politics and academic debates. Each view has its own value judgments and explanations. Over the times, new definitions have surfaced the debates and yet, there is not a single universally acceptable definition of poverty. Definitions usually set the perimeters of the terminology and often subject to limitations and criticism. According to the definition of the World Bank, the term lack refers to the scarcity of economic resources while the term inability refers to the failure of competence to take part in a community (Bellu & Liberati, 2005). It is now widely

Poverty is the state of having little to no money, goods, or means of support. It is a necessary evil that plagues a part of all countries, ranging from 1.5% of the population in Taiwan, to 80% in Chad. At the root of this problem, as is at the root of many more, is an inequality within today’s society.