There can be no denial about the fact that Peter Singer goes on to leave no stone unturned to put across his point of view with utmost persuasiveness and perfection in the seminal essay, Famine, Affluence, and Morality. The sheer success of the writing lies in its effectiveness in highlighting the moral standards that ought to define the actions of human nature. The author goes on to explicate his perspective and eventually convinces the avid readers about the matter by bring into juxtaposition the lives of the haves and the have-nots of the world’s society. Singer delves into utilizing compelling arguments all across the writing by applying the moderate principle to evoke the sense of morality and catapult the affective appeal of his explication. A close introspection of the essay in context would enable one to have a very comprehensive idea about the nature of argument of the author and the subsequent effectiveness and affective appeal of the opinions voiced in the writing in context. The moderate principle that is propagated in the writing works to catapult the importance of morality in human life and exposes the flawed nature of consumer culture so as to urge the readers to aim at holistic well-being of the masses across the world.
It needs to be reckoned that the essay attains universality of time and place as the author delves into an issue that has bothered the world’s population and society from a long time, and has the potential to haunt the world in the times to come as well. Here, Singer’s focus is on the set of human values that constitute the normative actions on the part of human individuals- something that can be seen as the binding fiber that has come to uphold the good of the society. The author argues that the affluent people of the society are obligated by their sense of morality to donate much more resources to the causes of the bereaved or poor. He draws a direct comparison between what he feels ought to be the right amount of donation with the meager amount of humanitarian activities that the rich people of the Western cultures involve themselves in. At the very core of his argument lies the omnipotence of morality that ought to define the very nature of humans of the society in the first place and differentiate the human species from the lower beings of the globe.
The writing by Singer was inspired by the hapless starvation of the refugees of Bangladesh Liberation War. A huge number of people had to face the odds of life during that time. However, the author goes on to use this particular scenario as simply a microcosm as he goes on to generalize his argument and bring into perspective the entire human nature and the disparity and social inequality that encompasses the entire world’s society. As such, this essay is correctly anthologized as a seminal example of the Western ethical thinking that has the potential to thwart the degeneration of human values in the society and put people back on the right track of fostering kindness and love in the human society. It is truly intriguing to note how the author of the text goes on to persuade the readers with the mesh of logos, ethos and pathos in the course of the writing. He uses logical explanation coupled with affective appeals to the readers after having established his credibility as a torchbearer of human values and ethics.
It needs to be noted that one of the very core arguments of this writing is that if it is possible for someone to reduce the suffering of others without any massive reduction in his or her own way of life, it is surely not moral to refrain from that sort of help. Singer goes on to opine that any such inaction on the part of the affluent people of the world is uncalled for, and geographical distance of the affluent from the poor or suffering persons should not work as a bar at all in the help that ought to be offered to the hapless people. It is a general practice to take it to be much less of a responsibility if the problems of the people are at a greater geographical distance. However, this flawed perspective has to be changed as per Singer’s argument. Peter Singer rightly urges upon his readers to look beyond their own community or society and work for the world’s population. He speaks of international human unity and assistance in this regard seeing the entire human fraternity as a singular society or unit.
If one analyzes the writing, it is not difficult to note how Singer evokes the moral sense of the readers describing about the woes of people from corners of the world. He opines how bad the scenario is for a section of the human society. After having evoked the emotions of the readers regarding the impediments in the lives of people, the author talks of morality and how it is the moral obligation of the affluent people to serve the poor. Thus, it is the utilization of moderate principle all over that allows Singer to put across a very compelling argument in favor of omnipotence of human morality and responsibility of the rich to help the poor and suffering people of the various parts of the globe. Singer opines, “It makes no moral difference whether the person I can help is a neighbor's child ten yards from me or a Bengali whose name I shall never know, ten thousand miles away.” (Singer 236) Thus, the argument in favor of unity of human nature all over the globe comes across with utmost vehemence as one goes through the writing by the author.
Also, the author rightly stresses on the moderate principle as he goes on to declare that it hardly matters if the affluent person in context is the only one in a position to help the hapless or the person is simply one many millions who can potentially help the needy people. The basic essence of his argument is the moral obligation and responsibility that has to be innate in human nature. Thus, by the time one completes reading the writing it becomes clear how human nature has to be driven by conscience and morality, instead of falsity of consumerism and materialism that has come to encompass the lives of the affluent people in the Western world. Singer effectively focuses on the existing disparity of riches and lifestyle among people of the world. He brings in context the lives and conditions of the developing nations of the globe to enhance the perspective of the readers of the essay.
Hence, it would be correct to conclude by saying that Peter Singer goes on to stir the conscience of the avid readers and his writing works to lead to the disillusionment of the readers exposing the blinding effects of consumer culture. Moreover, the writing is a social document as well that delves deep into the disparity that creates the gulf between the different rungs of the society based on their material comforts, riches and lifestyle. The piece points to the scope of development at an individual level leaving aside the shallowness of material culture. Singer urges his readers to search for the innate morality that has somehow come to get undermined in the modern era due to the catapulting consumer culture. Human society can only achieve self-actualization if there is holistic well-being among people of the world. As such, his argument succeeds in stirring the readers to the core. The principle even in its moderate form has the potential to bring a sea of change for the better in the entire world.
Works Cited
Singer, Peter. “Famine, Affluence, and Morality.” In Philosophy & Public Affairs. Wiley:
New Jersey, 1972. pp. 229-243. PDF.
