quote · Legacy record
No doubt we instinctively prefer to help those who are close to us. Few could stand by and watch a child drown; many can ignore the avoidable deaths of children in Africa or India. The question, however, is not what we usually do, but what we ought to do, and it is difficult to see any sound moral justification for the view that distance, or community membership, makes a crucial difference to our obligations.
No doubt we instinctively prefer to help those who are close to us. Few could stand by and watch a child drown; many can ignore the avoidable deaths of children in Africa or India. The question, however, is not what we usually do, but what we ought to do, and it is difficult to see any sound moral justification for the view that distance, or community membership, makes a crucial difference to our obligations.
Approximate author period: c. 1946 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Peter Singer
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1946 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1946; activity date not established; Wikidata Q211539, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q211539 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 225125; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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