(January 12, 2018 at 8:32 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(January 12, 2018 at 2:43 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: Regardless of what you think your obligations are, if there is a certain something motivating you to save that drowning child, why doesn't that same something motivate you to save a starving child?
Maybe I'm getting hung up on the meaning of "obligation", however, I answered that way because my resources are finite and I cannot feed everyone, so I choose to focus my limited resources to my local community. I also realize that's a pragmatic answer to philosophical question, but that's how I roll.
Yeah. That's kinda how I roll too. But Singer makes a good point with his drowning child example.
Many of us would ruin a $500 suit by jumping into a pond to save a drowning child, but fewer of us would opt to forgo having the suit to feed the hungry worldwide.
As to the word "obligation" ... IDK. Many of us would feel a strong impulse to save a drowning child. One would say one feels obliged in such circumstances. But some think of it in different terms such as "I am under no obligation to save every child I see drowning."
I kinda get where they're coming from. But at the same time, if I saw a drowning child, I would feel personally obligated to save him/her. So would most people who object to the word "obligation" I imagine.
