What's The Big Idea: Peter Singer: How To Do The Most Good - An Intro To Applied Ethics and Effective Altruism
“When we come to the more practical questions, how are we to live? is it okay to eat meat?…is it alright for a physician to allow a patient to die if they make that request and are terminally ill? These are all practical ethics.”
Today’s guest: Peter Singer
His big idea: How we can do more good for those in extreme poverty through applied ethics.
Peter Singer is an Australian ethical and political philosopher best known for his work in bioethics and his role as one of the intellectual founders of the modern animal rights movement. Author of Animal Liberation and The Life You Can Save, Singer has devoted much of his time, effort (and a considerable portion of his income) to social and political causes, most notably animal rights but also famine and poverty relief, environmentalism, and reproductive rights. By the 1990's, his intellectual leadership of the increasingly successful animal rights movement, and his controversial stands on some bioethical issues, had made him one of the world’s most widely recognized public intellectuals.
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Key insights Shared:
Ethics can be divided into 3 areas
Meta Ethics - a discussion of the nature of ethics, when we make a judgement are we deciding something that is objective or subjective.
Normative Ethics - theories of ethics like utilitarianism, rights based views, ruled based large scale theories regarding how to act.
Applied Ethics - How are we to live? Is it ok to eat meat? How should we use resources if we have excess? Is it right to assist a patient in dying if they’re terminally ill? Where philosophy intersects with real life situations.
Utilitarianism - the right action has the best consequence for all. What will do the most to reduce suffering and increase happiness.
Hedonistic Utilitarianism - Hedonistic from the Greek term for pleasure - pleasure or happiness is what we want to maximize and pain and suffering is what we aim to minimize.
How different organizations utilize the donations and which are most effective? - The advent of the internet helped illustrate that not all nonprofits use their funds as effectively as others. Sites like Givewell illustrate which organizations most effectively utilize the money donated and they’re frequently those that are leaner and more focused on a single problem and area.
When donating to causes - during tragedies, it's common that many people will rush to donate and often this influx of money isn’t used as effectively as possible. Consider donating to ongoing issues that don’t have the movement of headlines after a tragedy promoting them. Issues like deaths from malaria are ongoing and funds donated to charities in this field can often go further towards helping others.
Consideration towards the personal and individual when donating - A lot of people think global poverty never changes but it’s a myth. The amount of people dying from preventable disease and those living in abject poverty has dropped in the last decade and this is in part a direct result from individuals who are willing to donate their time and money.
Education for women in Sub-Saharan Africa - The age at which women have children and the amount of children they have has been found to correlate the level of education these women have. With the benefit of education, these women are able to raise healthier and more productive offspring and it also plays a significant role in the growth of the population and how the state is able to respond with developing infrastructure like schools.
Consumer goods don’t really contribute to lasting happiness, we adjust to owning new things. Giving and a sense of fulfillment is something that lasts longer.