Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    You are morally obligated to save a drowning infant in a ... — Carmelics
    Home/Moral Responsibility
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    You are morally obligated to save a drowning infant in a shallow pond when doing so requires minimal effort and inconvenience.

    ConsequentialismMoral Responsibility
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.The infant is drowning in a shallow pond.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.You have the power to save the infant.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Saving the infant requires minimal effort and inconvenience on your part.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Moral obligations require a special relationship or prior causal role; mere proximity and capability alone do not generate duties to rescue.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Frances Kamm and Frances Mylan Scanlon's contractualist framework grounds obligations in relational duties, not universal consequentialist demands on bystanders.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If capability alone generated obligations, agents would face unlimited, demandingness-collapsing duties that undermine the moral significance of personal projects and commitments.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Bernard Williams argues that utilitarianism's impartial demands alienate agents from their ground projects, which are constitutive of personal integrity and identity.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.An obligation derived solely from the capacity to prevent harm with minimal cost implicitly endorses the impartial aggregative reasoning Williams identifies as integrity-destroying.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.A moral theory that systematically overrides agent-relative reasons in favor of impartial outcomes cannot coherently ground genuine moral obligations without undermining the motivational basis of morality itself.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Moral ResponsibilityConsequentialism

    Related

    A moral theory that systematically overrides agent-relative reasons in favor of ...An obligation derived solely from the capacity to prevent harm with minimal cost...Bernard Williams argues that utilitarianism's impartial demands alienate agents ...Frances Kamm and Frances Mylan Scanlon's contractualist framework grounds obliga...
    +6 moreShow less
    If capability alone generated obligations, agents would face unlimited, demandin...Moral obligations require a special relationship or prior causal role; mere prox...Saving the infant requires minimal effort and inconvenience on your part.The infant is drowning in a shallow pond.When it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening without sacrific...You have the power to save the infant.

    Similar

    One's moral obligation to provide funds for famine relief (at a cost e...83%The infant is drowning in a shallow pond.80%We have the power to save the global poor from dire circumstances with...80%You have the power to save the infant.78%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: justice-global
    View source passageHide passage
    One of the most visible and large-scale contemporary global justice problems we face is that of global poverty. What ought we to do for the 1 billion or so people who currently live in poverty? (This is a huge area nicely canvassed in the entry on international distributive justice.) A few seminal arguments deserve mention here as well, however. In a classic argument Peter Singer describes a so-called easy rescue case in which an infant is drowning in a shallow pond. You happen by and can sa
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit