Am I My Brothers' Keeper?

Dec 11, 2009

This short video on ethics asks: Are we responsible for the well-being of children around the globe, millions of whom die every year from preventable causes? Or does charity begin at home?

Am I my brothers' keeper?

Imagine you're walking across a park and see a child fallen into a shallow pond. No-one else is in sight. If you don't go to the rescue, the child may drown.

But you're wearing expensive shoes, and wading in the water will ruin them. Either you rescue the child and ruin your shoes, or you risk the child, but your shoes are fine.

What would you do? When philosopher Peter Singer tells this story, everyone says, "save the child." But, why that child?

Every year about ten million children die from preventable causes: from dysentery, malaria, hunger. Many could be saved for the price of the shoes.

What are our obligations to these children? They are not in front of our eyes, our immediate responsibility. Does distance mean that their lives don't matter, or don't matter as much?

Perhaps if we have the means, we have an obligation to help people in need, even if we don't know them. But shouldn't charity begin at home?

What should we do first: help those in our own country or rescue those most in need? Does distance matter?

As important, how great is our obligation? How much should we give?

Many would say that our responsibilities are primarily to our families, our kin, our community. Even if responsibilities are only to those close to us, how big are they: spare change, the cost of shoes, a day's wages, their basic necessities, 10 percent of our income?

What do you think? Am I my sisters' keeper? Which sisters, and how well kept?

By Madeleine Lynn

For more on this topic, see Peter Singer, The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty.

You may also like

APR 19, 2022 Podcast

Why Democracy vs. Autocracy Misses the Point, with Jean-Marie Guéhenno

The advent of the age of data is a formidable accelerator of history. As society faces a crisis of politics compounded by the emergence of ...

AUG 19, 2021 Podcast

The Doorstep: The Future of Afghanistan Roundtable Discussion, with Ali M Latifi & Said Sabir Ibrahimi

Ali M Latifi, Kabul-based journalist for Al Jazeera English, and Said Sabir Ibrahimi, non-resident fellow with NYU's Center on International Cooperation, join "Doorstep" co-hosts Nick ...

CREDIT: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/a6kuVE">Carlos Reusser</a>/<a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Public Domain</a>

DEC 7, 2020 Podcast

Vaccine Ethics: What Are We Learning from COVID-19?

As the race for COVID–19 vaccines enters its next stage, we are faced with broad ethical challenges, along with specific questions of principle and practice. ...

Not translated

This content has not yet been translated into your language. You can request a translation by clicking the button below.

Request Translation