Q&A Question 2

Is distance eliminated or changed if I can see the suffering victims through the media or the internet?

In relation to Singer's argument and the argument for an emphatic ethics. The qualities of distance, that one cannot see or hear what is going on in a distant place, seem to be minimized by the media available to us that gives us indirect access to what is happening at a distance.

I think in ethics this is a relevant discussion. Especially when dealing with a sort of ethics that is based on the feelings on empathy. If you can get that 'distant' suffering right into your living room, is it that distant at all? So if there where an argument based on distance, this would need to be taken into account.

Q&A Question 1

If we accept Singer as true, will the application of massive aid actually relieve poverty?

I suppose this is a bit of a leading question on my part. But I think that this is a serious flaw in Singers argument. Will the application of aid do what it is supposed to do? Which is relieving suffering.

Then again there is the argument that is what is right is right. The act of saving a persons life right now is moral, and to hell with the consequences.

Responding to "Is 'Owning' a Pet Ethical?"

From the title I thought the issue of 'owning' was what was going to be discussed. I think it is possible that the mode of 'being owned' is certainly immoral in humans. We will likely all agree that slavery is immoral.

So the question is then, is it moral to own animals? In our last class we discussed that just about every animal likely has the capacity for pleasure and pain, but if these can be provided for in the situation of ownership then there may be no immoral grounds for owning. But what about animals that exhibit signs of consciousnes?

Ownership implys that the subject of ownership is an object, and that it can be disposed of in whatever way the owner thinks fit. If we do think that animals are in a separate moral category from objects, we might want to look forward to a different mode of relationship that is more moral than owner and owned. For example, the treatment of pets in certain social contexts as a sort of part of the family, should be extended into the legal sphere, replacing ownership.