Ethics and Hunger
Sources:
World Hunger and Morality (1996 Aiken and LaFollette)
World Food Problem (2004 Leathers and Foster)
The Elements of Moral Philosophy (1993 Rachels)
Ethics
• How do we know what is right and wrong?
– Use ethical theories to develop ethical
arguments
• Ethical Arguments
– Based on logical extension of ethical theories to
address specific issues
– a peaceful way to resolve conflicts in values
Ethics is not
• Bible or Religion
– People have different religions
– Ethics can transcend differences
• Law
– Some things are legal but not ethical
– Some things are ethical but not legal
• Customs
– People have different ways of doing things
– Ethics can transcend differences
Ethical Theories
• Natural Law
– There are stronger and
weaker among all things
– It is natural and therefore
right for the strong to win
over the weak
– Examples
• Humans are at the top of the
food chain and therefore eat
animals and plants
• Survival of the fittest
• Social Darwinism
Ethical Theories
• Divine Command
– What is right is
determined by God
• Jewish
• Christian
• Moslem
• Aztec
– Examples
• Love thy neighbor as
thyself
• Thou shall not kill
• Golden Rule
• Compassion
Ethical Theories
• Virtue Ethics
– Have good character and you
will behave ethically
– Example: Justice
• One who develops the personal
virtue of justice will treat other
people in an ethically just manner
Aristotle
Ethical Theories
• Categorical Imperative
– Should be able to
universalize what you do
– People should not be treated
as means to an end
– Examples:
• If some have access to the
Emanuel Kant
means of survival, everyone
should have access to the
means of survival
• Exploitation is wrong
Ethical Theories
• Rights
– There are protected
privileges people deserve
• Universal – should apply
to everybody
• Inherent for human beings
(at least)
– Examples
• Right to life
• Right to freedom
• Right not to be tortured
• Right to own property
Rights
• Right to water, air, food?
• Right to livelihood?
Ethical Theories
• Utilitarianism
– Seek the greatest good for the
greatest number
• Quantitate and optimize happiness
in society while minimizing pain
– Examples
• Interstate highways through farms
benefit the larger public
Ethical Theories
• Utilitarianism
– Seek the greatest good for the
greatest number
– Examples
• Increase distribution of wealth
– Charity
– Graduated Taxes
– Labor Unions
– Socialism
– Land Redistribution
• Increase access to land, water, credit,
health, and education
Land Redistribution
• Jefferson thought the
misery of Europe was
caused by enormous
inequality in land holding.
• He proposed that land
should be redistributed
every generation.
Thomas Jefferson
Ethical Theories
• Intuition
– What is right is what
resonates as the right
thing for an individual
– Based on
• Feeling (irrational)
• Thinking (rational)
• Mysticism (spiritual)
• Culture (societal values)
– Example
• Gut feeling (sense) that it
is morally wrong for
people to starve to death
Ethical Principles
• Non- Maleficence
– Do no harm: stop hurting others
• Beneficence
– Do good: help others
• Justice
– Fairness: equality of treatment
• Autonomy
– Self-determination
• Paternalism
– Deciding for others
Ethical Perspectives
• Absolutism
– What is right is
universal, timeless, and
absolute
• Relativism
– What is right may be
different for different
people or cultures
• Nihilism
– There is no right or
wrong
Fallacies in Ethical Arguments
• Can’t cite the
Bible or other
religious
authority as
reason for
another to accept
your ethical
position
Fallacies in Ethical Arguments
• Can’t cite
majority or how
we’ve always
done things in
history as an
authority
– still might be
wrong
Fallacies in Ethical Arguments
“I do not see why man cannot be just
as cruel as nature”
Who said it?
Hitler
Ghandi
• Can’t
condemn
something
because of
who said it
• Evaluate the
merit of what
is said
Fallacies in Ethical Arguments
• Can’t equate a thing to
something else that is
easy to attack
– and then attack the easy
thing
– (Strawman)
Fallacies in Ethical Arguments
• Slippery Slope: Can’t
extrapolate into the
future (domino theory):
– if we allow this, then a
terrible thing will
happen later…
• Example: Anti-Suffragist
Argument
– If women became
involved in politics, they
would stop marrying,
having children, and the
human race would die
out
Fallacies in Ethical Arguments
• Must have sound
reasoning and use
factual information
• Example: Fear about
eating genetically
modified foods:
– Its eating DNA!
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
Arguments that hunger is not
morally acceptable
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• No, because:
– People should have a
right to survive
• Rights to
–
–
–
–
–
–
Food
Air
Water
Shelter
Autonomy
Self-sufficiency
• Principle: Rights
Henry Shue
Subsistence Rights
• “No one can fully, if at all, enjoy any right that is
supposedly protected by society if he or she lacks the
essentials for a reasonably healthy and active life.
• Deficiencies in the means of subsistence can be just as
fatal, incapacitating, or painful as violations of
physical security.
• The resulting damage or death can at least as
decisively prevent the enjoyment of any right as can
the effects of security violations”
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• No, because:
– Extreme disparities of
wealth are unjust
– Conquest and economic
domination unjustly favor
the wealthy
• Principle: Justice
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Image:Jakarta_slumhome_2.jpg
Jakarta, Indonesia Slum
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• No, because:
– Jesus said
• love thy neighbor
• Do onto others as you would
have them do unto you
– Charity to the poor is a pillar
of Islam
• Principles:
Feeding orphans in Afghanistan
– Divine Command
– Beneficence
Mother Teresa
• “If you can't feed a
hundred people, then
feed just one.”
• “Do not wait for
leaders; do it alone,
person to person.”
Thomas Aquinas
13th Century Italian Philosopher
• Whatever a man has in
superabundance is
owed, of natural right,
to the poor for their
sustenance
• Principle: Natural Law
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• No, because:
– Pain suffered by the
hungry outweighs pleasure
enjoyed by the well off
– Greatest good for the
greatest number
• Principle: Utilitarianism
Peter Singer
• If it is in our power to prevent hunger we have a
moral obligation to do it
– If we do not have to sacrifice anything morally
comparable
• Example:
– If we walk by a shallow pond and see a child
drowning, we ought to save the child rather
than to save ourselves from getting wet and
dirty.
Singer’s Runaway Trolley
• Suppose you own a classic Bugatti
– it is your pride and joy
– It stalls on a trolley spur line
• A runaway trolley will hit and kill
a child stuck on the main track
– Unless you divert the trolley to the
spur line
– And destroy your Bugatti
• How much is the child worth?
http://www.motordesktop.com/wallpaper/supercars/Bugatti%20Veyron%202%20%201024x768.jpg
– How much of your money should you
give to help save the lives of children
in developing countries?
– Without doing comparable harm to
you?
• We earn much more than we
really need
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• No, because:
– Western Culture has contributed to
and benefited from conditions that
helped produce global hunger
• Conquest
• Colonialism
• Imperialism
• Global economic dominance
• Aid to corrupt allies
• Principles:
Idi Amin received U.S. aid
– Non-maleficence
– Justice
Thomas Pogge
• The Global economic order causes poverty and
entrenches the disadvantages of the poor
– Example:
• Dictators are allowed to sell the mineral and raw material wealth of
their country
• Profits are used to perpetuate repressive regimes.
• The global economic order supports this.
• The developed world benefits from low prices.
– Example:
• Dictators are allowed to borrow money to support repressive regimes
• The global economic order supports this.
• The first world benefits, developing countries suffer
Thomas Pogge
• “We must stop thinking about world poverty
in terms of helping the poor. The poor do
need help, of course. But they need help
only because of the terrible injustices they
are being subjected to”
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• No, because:
– When I see suffering
people I know
instinctively that it is
wrong
• Principle: Intuition
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
Arguments that hunger is morally
acceptable
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• Yes, because:
– Well off people have a
right to what they have
earned and own
• Principle: Rights
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• Yes, because:
– Jesus said the poor will
always be with us.
• Principle: Divine Command
Beggar with leprosy, India
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• Yes, because:
– If we are not causing
hunger, we are not
responsible
• Principle: Non-Maleficence
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• Yes, because:
– People deserve the
circumstances they
experience:
• Caste system
• God’s will
• Original sin
• Providence
• Principle: Divine Command
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• Yes, because:
• There must be
poor in an
agricultural society
to support the
hierarchy
• Principle: Divine
Command
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• Yes, because:
• Survival of the fittest
is a law of nature: we
are not all equal:
Cecil Rhodes
“I contend that we are the first
race in the world and the more of
the world we inhabit the better it is
for the human race…”
– individuals or
– cultures
– Social Darwinism
• Principle: Natural Law
Is Hunger morally acceptable?
• Yes, because:
– The poor countries
will out-reproduce
the wealthy
countries, resulting
in greater hunger in
the future
• Principle:
Beneficence
Garrett Hardin
• Rich nations are like lifeboats and must limit the
number of people aboard
• If you think this is unfair you may give your seat
to one of the poor
• If we give money or food to the poor they will
multiply, destroying the earth for all
• This is a tragedy of the commons: abuses by some
can destroy common resources for all
Garrett Hardin
• “We are all descendants of thieves, and the world’s
resources are inequitably distributed.
• But we must begin the journey to tomorrow from
the point where we are today.
• We cannot remake the past.
• We cannot safely divide the wealth equitably
among all peoples so long as people reproduce at
different rates.”
Questions
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical values
about hunger are
influenced by:
– History of European
Conquest and
colonialism?
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical values
about hunger are
influenced by:
– Cultural arrogance
and racism?
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical
values about
hunger are
influenced by:
– American
individualism?
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical
values about
hunger are
influenced by:
– Ideas of
manifest
destiny?
George A. Custer
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical values
about hunger are
influenced by:
– Western property rights
and property law?
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical
values about
hunger are
influenced by:
– Laisse-faire
capitalism?
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical
values about
hunger are
influenced by:
– Xenophobia?
Questions
• How much of our
culture’s ethical values
about hunger are
influenced by:
– Christian doctrine of
love, forgiveness,
compassion?