Peter Singer on Applied Ethics (Live Watch)

When we buy new clothes not to keep ourselves warm but to look "well-dressed" we are not providing for any important need. We would not be sacrificing anything significant if we were to continue to wear our old clothes, and give the money to famine relief. By doing so, we would be preventing another person from starving. It follows from what I have said earlier that we ought to give money away, rather than spend it on clothes which we do not need to keep us warm. To do so is not charitable, or generous. Nor is it the kind of act which philosophers and theologians have called "supererogatory" - an act which it would be good to do, but not wrong not to do. On the contrary, we ought to give the money away, and it is wrong not to do so.

We will watch together Singer's 20 minute long interview to William Crawley: part 1 and part 2.

Please note that we will put emphasis in keeping the conversation civil and focused on the text.

This discussion is not meant for specialists.
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Much traditional moral philosophy is of a fairly general and abstract nature, and addresses the task of formulating fundamental principles for the guidance and evaluation of human conduct. But moral philosophers have also been concerned to apply their principles to particular problems, with a view to deciding on the rightness or wrongness of specific human institutions, policies, and practices. This branch of Ethics, often called applied Ethics, forms the subject matter of this group.

The organizer is not an expert in Ethics but has a long experience in organizing similar meetings. He also has an Oxford PhD in European History as well as a Cambridge MPhil on the same discipline. He currently teaches foreign languages.