It looks like Singer subscribes to the maxim, “Give until you’re unable to take care of yourself and your loved ones.”
I like this framing better than the drowning child analogy since the trigger for the action pattern of giving is well-defined. Thanks for pointing this article out, Chris_Leong.
He suggests that he subscribes to such a maximum, but also proposes a weaker maxim—that we should give unless the bad that would happen to us is comparable in moral significance to the harm we would prevent (note: this says comparable in moral significance, not equal in morally significance).
It looks like Singer subscribes to the maxim, “Give until you’re unable to take care of yourself and your loved ones.”
I like this framing better than the drowning child analogy since the trigger for the action pattern of giving is well-defined. Thanks for pointing this article out, Chris_Leong.
He suggests that he subscribes to such a maximum, but also proposes a weaker maxim—that we should give unless the bad that would happen to us is comparable in moral significance to the harm we would prevent (note: this says comparable in moral significance, not equal in morally significance).