Summarization – In this assignment, you’ll summarize the “shallow pond” thought experiment from Peter Singer’s Famine, Affluence, and MoralityLinks to an external site..

Assignment

This essay will consist of two sections, which may contain multiple paragraphs each.  Use Bolded Section Headings to separate these sections.

Section 1: Summary 

Briefly summarize Peter Singer’s “shallow pond” thought experiment from Famine, Affluence, and MoralityLinks to an external site. in your own words.  (Do not merely quote it; by summarizing the case in your own words, you will demonstrate you understand the case and can pick out the morally salient features of the case.)

In a separate paragraph explain what Peter Singer thinks this thought experiment shows and why.  How does Singer think people should react in this situation?  (The primary goal of a moral thought experiment is to test the reader’s moral intuitions.  To that end make sure it’s in a separate paragraph than any discussion about thought experiment so as to avoid biasing your reader.)

Section 2:  Analysis

Evaluate Peter Singer’s “shallow pond” thought experiment using your personal, pre-theoretical commonsense moral intuitions. 

A moral intuition is a moral belief or feeling that you have when you think about a moral issue.  Think of moral intuitions as moral sense data, not unlike sights, sounds, or tastes.  When people experience or think about thought experiments, examples, and cases, they naturally come to have moral intuitions about it, judging it to be morally desirable or undesirable.  Sometimes moral intuitions can be difficult to explain or describe; other times they’re very easy to explain.

Singer is pretty clear about how he thinks people should behave in the “shallow pond” case; but what do your moral intuitions say?  Explain whether you share the same intuitions Singer does, or whether you disagree and why.  You may use your own examples, thought experiments, and experience to support your position.

Note:  If your paper includes a discussion inspired by an external source (other than our assigned readings), include a References page that cites that source.  (Quoting an external source, or borrowing from an external source without a reference will count as plagiarism, so make sure to cite your sources!)