The Singer Solution to World Poverty
Stewart Officer
9/23/2008
English comp 1
In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” Peter Singer adamantly discusses how he believes people need to give more of their income to foreign aid. Although Singer’s intentions are with the utmost class his ideas are illogical.
One of Singers main points of the article was the fact he believes two hundred dollars could save a child’s life (372). He emphasizes this many different times throughout the article. Singer’s gives this number by referring to Unger’s assessment to how much it would cost to nourish a child for several years (372). How does Singers know that two hundred dollars will save a child’s life? The fact is he does not, for all he knows it could cost one dollar or one million dollars to save a child’s life. His argument is illogical due to the fact he gives the reader no proof other than his word that this is the correct amount. Singers throws around this number like it is a proven fact and yet he shows no proof of its legitimacy.
Singer has great intentions in “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” but the details of his message are wrong. His article uses ridiculous comparisons and obvious fallacies in his arguments. Through illogical ideas and farfetched facts Singer attempts to sway the reader. Many of his arguments are very farfetched and in some cases completely wrong. Singer is trying to improve the world but will not be able to complete his task if he continues to down this path.