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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
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    Peter Singer's drowning child argument demonstrates that ... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→A non-maximizing duty of benevolence can be balanced with special obligations without contradiction.

    Peter Singer's drowning child argument demonstrates that the moral weight of preventing serious harm does not diminish based on proximity or relational distance.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Moral obligations based on preventing serious harm apply equally regardless of spatial or relational distance to the person at risk.
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    • 2.We cannot consistently claim distance eliminates obligation while accepting that our actions can cause harm to distant strangers.
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    • 3.If proximity alone determined moral weight, we could justify ignoring preventable deaths abroad—an intuitively unjustifiable position.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Special obligations to near others (family, community) arise from reciprocal relationships and historical commitments, not arbitrary proximity.
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    • 2.Effective moral agency requires focusing resources where one has knowledge, accountability, and capacity—typically closest relationships first.
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    • 3.The drowning child analogy fails because it excludes systemic factors: distant poverty involves complex causes beyond individual rescue-like duties.
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    Consequentialism1 linkedVirtue Ethics1 linked

    Related

    A non-maximizing duty of benevolence can be balanced with special obligations wi...Effective moral agency requires focusing resources where one has knowledge, acco...If proximity alone determined moral weight, we could justify ignoring preventabl...Moral obligations based on preventing serious harm apply equally regardless of s...
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    Special obligations to near others (family, community) arise from reciprocal rel...The drowning child analogy fails because it excludes systemic factors: distant p...We cannot consistently claim distance eliminates obligation while accepting that...

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    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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