Philosophy in the Community: What Do We Owe Each Other?
A public talk by Dr. Emer O'Hagan (PhD), professor of philosophy
Philosophy in the Community is a free lecture and discussion series sponsored by the USask Department of Philosophy. Learn more.
Date: Friday, Sept. 8
Time: 7 pm
Location: Emmanuel Anglican Church,
607 Dufferin Ave. (The Refinery)
Free and open to the public.
About this event
In a duly famous article, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” Utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer defends the following principle: “if it is in our power to prevent something very bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral significance, we ought to do it.” While seemingly uncontroversial, the principle has far-reaching consequences. Many of us can forego luxuries without losing anything of moral significance, thus we should be giving those resources to those who live in poverty.
In this presentation, O’Hagan will outline Singer’s argument and then invite the audience to participate in small group discussions, followed by the usual Q&A. The discussion will help us develop our own thinking on the broader question, "what do we owe each other?" For those interested, learn more in Singer's paper.
Info: emer.ohagan@usask.ca
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