By Tim Barbalace
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Peter Singer, regarded by many as one of the most influential philosophers of our time, came to Towson University last week to speak about a variety of moral topics.
“Ethics are a really important topic to be thinking about in your stage of life,” Singer said as he addressed a full capacity crowd at Towson’s Lecture Hall building.
Singer used an example of a young boy who drowned as he escaped Syria and was found lying face down in the sand at a Turkish resort of Bodrum. Singer then asked the question of how society can prevent this situation from happening.
“There are many other children that need our help in a more straightforward way and we can contribute toward saving them,” Singer said.
According to Singer, effective altruists want to use their powers to analyze and decide the most effective ways of helping others.
“Altruists mean just that, actually make the whole world better,” Singer said. “Altruists try to figure out how to make the most good. They think universally, as in all people matter the same.”
He said everyone benefits when the world reduces the suffering of others. Suffering, however, is not just a pressing matter for humans.
“It’s not only the suffering of humans that count,” Singer said. “Suffering of non-humans count too. I strongly support the view of not discounting animals’ lives and we should care about their suffering.”
Altruists also focus on the uncertainty of the future when they make decisions because suffering will always be present.
As an example of effective altruism, Singer pointed to Toby Orb, the Oxford University professor who has pledged to donate $1.5 million to charity over his lifetime despite the fact that he is living off of $450 a month.
“Toby Orb is an example of someone living on a low income of $40,000,” Singer said. “Toby then received his PhD and realized he could still live on his low income, even though he was earning significantly more than $40,000. He donated all of the money that he earned over $40,000 to organizations and charities that could help people.”
Toby found a study that showed the cost to prevent trachoma, a bacterial infection that can cause blindness, was about $25 dollars, Singer said. He could prevent 80,000 people from going blind just with his surplus.
Toby set up an organization called Giving What We Can and asked people to donate 10 percent of their income, if they were able, to the organization.
Singer also commended Julia Wise, who along with her husband have vowed to live off of 6 percent of their income so that they can donate $100,000 a year to charity.
“Julia Wise always had enough to eat and didn’t need anything,” Singer said. “She realized that stuff she didn’t need could have went to the less fortunate. She and her husband are currently giving half of her income to charities.”
Singer said that the choice of career is one of the most momentous decisions a person can make. According to Singer, there are 80,000 hours spent in a career. Earning to give is the most important thing to altruists, Singer said.
He said that “$350 billion is contributed to charities a year and most of this money is donated by individuals, but it is not necessarily going to the best cause. It is obvious that some causes are better than others.”
Singer then went on to use the example of businessman David Getten as an example of someone who could have more effectively donated money.
“David Getten donated $100 million for the naming rights to the Lincoln Center venue,” Singer said. “Gettens’ donation could have saved many lives.”
Some causes are hard to compare because of the lack of transparency of some charities, he said.
“Until the last decade, it was hard to get good information and statistics about charities,” Singer said. “Holden Kamosfsky and Elie Hassenfeld came up with the GiveWell organization, which helps analyze charities. They wanted to know what exactly was happening with their donations.”
GiveWell has logged in thousands of hours to discover the top rated, most beneficial charities. Singer said The Life You Can Save organization is another source to use to find effective charities.
Singer left the university with a closing remark on how to make a difference while in college.
“One of the things you can do is make people more aware of these issues as college students,” Singer said. “Only 1 percent of government spending goes to foreign aid. We can all pitch in and make a difference.”
Towson President Timothy Chandler said he came away from the speech impressed.
“Singer is one of the leading figures in practical ethics and really gave a great speech,” Chandler said. “He is a consequentialist, so for him it’s about the outcomes. It isn’t just how much you give if those donations are gleaned from activities keeping people in poverty.”
Matt Boyd, a junior at Towson, had a similar take from Singer’s speech.
“Peter Singer gave great insight of altruism, which was a topic I was not very aware of,” Boyd said. “The most surprising part of the speech to me was when he brought up charities and donations. I have always wondered what charities do with the donations they receive and I am glad he brought up GiveWell.”