Reviewed by Alan Han

Peter Singer’s book The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty follows from his earlier book, How Are We To Live? In both books, Singer’s central dilemma is encapsulated in the hypothetical story of the child drowning in the pond:

The weather’s cool today, though, and it’s early in the morning, so you are surprised to see a child splashing about in the pond. As you get closer you see that is a very young child, just a toddler, who is flailing about, unable to stay upright or walk out of the pond. You look for the parents or babysitter, but there is no one else around. The child is unable to keep his head above the water for more than a few seconds at a time. If you don’t wade in and pull him out, he seems likely to drown. Wading in is easy and safe, but you will ruin the new shoes you bought only a few days ago, and get your suit wet and muddy. By the time you hand over the child to someone responsible for him, and change your clothes, you’ll be late for work. What should you do? (3).

Of course, as Singer points out, most people would save the drowning child and would think that it would be morally wrong to refuse to do so. However, isn’t this what most people in the West do on a daily basis? According to the World Bank, there are 1.4-billion people living under the poverty line of US$1.25 per day (7). That’s less than the cost of a bottle of water. And yet, we don’t think twice about buying this bottle of water even though it could pay for a life-saving vaccine for a child living in Africa. Using this as one of his examples, Singer sets out in his book to consider where people draw the line when it comes to giving to the poor.

The reason why Singer is such an influential and, perhaps the most important philosopher of our time, is quite easily discerned from his writing. His characteristic lucidity and frankness cuts straight to the chase; he doesn’t fling statistics around; and nor does he preach. Singer lays bare the moral dilemma, and sometimes uncomfortably so, the stark contrast between our lives in the privileged West and those unfortunate enough to live under the poverty line in places in Africa, Asia and South America. As you read the book, it’s easy to detect and begin to share Singer’s sense of frustration at the refusal to acknowledge these basic facts about global poverty that most of us are guilty of doing when, for instance, we buy a new shirt we don’t need.

When I speak to people about this book, the most frequent comment that I receive is: ‘Well how much does Singer himself give to the poor?’ [Singer donates 20 per cent of his income to charity - Ed.] I guess this comment highlights the fundamental problem with Singer’s status as a moral compass and a philosopher working in the Ivory towers of Princeton University – he becomes larger than life. People expect him to live by the philanthropic standards that he encourages others to live by (which he does) and if he doesn’t, they are quick to tag him as a hypocrite. Yet, I think this tendency to attack the messenger only goes to show how touchy these subjects are for most people. We, who live in the West, have so much difficulty relinquishing the things we take for granted and the things we want, but don’t really need. If you want to think critically about how to live a more ethical life, then, this book is definitely worth a read.

The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty
(2009)

by Peter Singer
Text Publishing
ISBN: 9781921520013
240pp AUD$34.95