Global poverty and the demands of morality

Abstract

This chapter argues that the scale of global poverty constitutes an ongoing moral emergency, requiring significant action from those who can afford to help. The author explores the problem of global poverty using data from various sources, emphasizing its widespread nature and its negative consequences, including lack of education, preventable diseases, and lack of basic necessities. The author then contrasts the prevailing view that giving to charity is supererogatory with the more demanding view that it is obligatory, as espoused by Peter Singer’s Principle of Sacrifice and by Christian ethics. The chapter argues that the former view is ultimately more plausible and more in line with commonly held moral intuitions. – AI-generated abstract.