Essay: Supporting Peter Singer's 'Famine, Affluence, and Morality'

This essay provides a positive analysis of Peter Singer's essay, 'Famine, Affluence, and Morality.' The student supports Singer's arguments regarding the moral obligation to assist those suffering from famine, emphasizing the selfishness of inaction and the importance of governmental and individual contributions to relief efforts. The essay highlights Singer's criticisms of governmental responses, the role of egoism in hindering aid, and the need for a moral code of conduct that prioritizes helping others. It references Singer's utilitarian perspective and stresses the importance of global cooperation in times of crisis, providing a detailed overview of Singer's perspective and supporting arguments within the essay.

Running head: POSITIVE PAPER IN SUPPORT OF THE AUTHOR’S STATEMENT
Positive Paper in Support of the Author’s Statement
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1POSITIVE PAPER IN SUPPORT OF THE AUTHOR STATEMENT
Peter Singer is an Australian moral philosopher. He is known to specialize in the
subject matter of applied ethics and is known to approach his ethical from a utilitarian and
secular perspective. He is well known for his essay named “Famine, Affluence and Morality”
where he has argued about making donations to the poor and the needy who are suffering
from the problems of famine. He had been included in the list of ten influential individuals of
2005 by the Sydney Morning Herald. The author is also a co-founder of the organizations
Animals Australia as well as the founder of The Life You Give.
The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how I think that the author is
correct in terms of the statements that he makes in the essay “Famine, Affluence and
Morality”.
Before providing the arguments in favour of the author’s statement in the essay
“Famine, Affluence and Morality”, it is important to know a bit about the subject matter of
the essay that the author gas argued about in the essay. In the essay the author has argued
about why he feels that not contributing to the famine relief programmes is wring for the
humans. He goes on to add the moral obligations that the human beings should have for
contributing to the relief for the people who are suffering from famines. He ends his
argument by saying that human beings would not be hurt much if they take out the time to
contribute to the relief programmes for famines as this might be helpful for the people who
are suffering from famines.
When analysing the author’s statements, I got the idea that what the author has stated
in his essay is correct. This is because I feel that the famine that took place in East Bengal all
those years ago is considered to be one of the most worst famines that the country has seen. It
can be concluded from the statements made by the author that the number of people dying as
well as suffering from the famine is of a great number and yet the government has not made

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the right choices of aiding the people with proper funding and offs and water supplies so that
the people of the country could eat and survive amidst this disaster (Singer, 2016). From this
statement by the author, I feel it is clear that the author has indicated to the selfishness of the
human beings. Indeed, the selfishness and the single mindedness of the human beings has
made the, decide not to help the poor people who are suffering from not hunger and thirst due
to the famines. I feel that the author was right in pointing out the fault of the Government
when he said that the Government has not made any decision to help the needy by making
donations so that the poor people would be able to get the food and drinks for themselves so
that they would survive during the times of the famine. As stated by Singer (2016), these
statements of the author make me feel that the author is right when he criticizes the actions of
the Government because he felt that the Government should have helped those people but
they did not. The author had also argued in his essay that the Governments of Australia was
the one that has helped the most in case of disaster in other countries which includes India,
proving the affluence of the country.
I feel that the author has correctly pointed out the fact that the Governments of
various countries should always contribute to the relief programmes of the countries that
suffers from disasters like famine. This is because the economy of the country that suffers
from such disasters are too weak to help the people of that country. Therefore, it is important
for the World Bank as well as the economies of other countries to lend their support to the
country that suffers from such disasters. I feel that this relief should not only be in the case of
Bengal but in case of all other countries of the world. I feel that as human beings, it is very
important for us to keep our selfishness aside and help the country that truly deserves such
help from the world as they are in crisis. The author has rightly requested in his essay that the
human beings would not be hurt if they would stop from committing murder and other crimes
and instead to help those who needs it. I agree with the author’s statement because if the

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humans always resort to crimes or violence, it would destroy their moral code of conduct.
Instead, human beings should try to help each other in times of need so that can live in peace.
This is what the author has stated and urges his readers top follow in his essay (Singer, 2016).
From reading the author’s essay, I am certain that the author has not only raised a very
serious and important issue for the readers about the helping the people of the world. This is
something that needs to be given attention as it is only by helping other humans that I feel we
can coexist in this planet. If people can help each other to overcome difficulties in times of
certain crisis. Then they will help these people in return when they themselves will be in
troubles.
The author’s statements are valid can only be proved by the particular moral theory of
egoism. This is because the author states that it is because of egoism that the people stops
helping each other when they are in trouble. As stated by Singer (2016), egoism is
considered to be one of the main reasons why the world experiences so much hatred and
distrust among the human beings. It is exactly this reason why the author states that people
does not want to help each other when they are in trouble. They do it because they derive
pleasure from seeing other people suffering from their problems. It is exactly the reason why
the author urges the human beings to keep their egos in control and help each other. This is
because people helping each other will be beneficial for them as it will create a spirit of
helpfulness in the world.
I also realize that the author through these statements should facing some opposition
from his critiques. This includes critiques stating that the economy of the government might
not be strong enough to help those in need during the times that they require it. Therefore, the
author seems to be in wrong when h estates that the government of the country is not helping
its people in overcoming their difficulties (Singer, 2016).

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From the above discussions, I conclude that wat the author says in his essay is
absolutely true as it is important for the people to help each other during times of crisis as this
will help in creating the moral code that the human beings needs for their survival on this
planet.
Reference List
Singer, P. (2016). Famine, affluence, and morality. Oxford University Press, USA.
Singer, P. (2016). From “Famine, Affluence and Morality” to Effective Altruism. The
Philosophers' Magazine, (73), 60-61.

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