Thanks for the post, you bring up some interesting points. I think one of the key things that’s missing from Singer’s approach is just how important personal responsibility is to well-being. Unfortunately, I don’t have my alternative framework all figured out yet, but here’s a start towards it. One example is that we have most responsibility for our own children since we brought them into existence and they generally can’t fend for themselves, so, under many circumstances, giving them priority is the most overall well-being-promoting thing to do.
I’m glad to see you are questioning some of the philosophy behind EA, and I hope that more people will do so. I believe a shift to protecting rights (e.g., fighting corruption) and promoting responsibility (of which mental health is a big subset since it involves taking responsibility for your emotions) could potentially help make EA as a movement much more effective.
Thanks for the post, you bring up some interesting points. I think one of the key things that’s missing from Singer’s approach is just how important personal responsibility is to well-being. Unfortunately, I don’t have my alternative framework all figured out yet, but here’s a start towards it. One example is that we have most responsibility for our own children since we brought them into existence and they generally can’t fend for themselves, so, under many circumstances, giving them priority is the most overall well-being-promoting thing to do.
I’m glad to see you are questioning some of the philosophy behind EA, and I hope that more people will do so. I believe a shift to protecting rights (e.g., fighting corruption) and promoting responsibility (of which mental health is a big subset since it involves taking responsibility for your emotions) could potentially help make EA as a movement much more effective.