I agree fully with the sentiment, but IMHO as a logical argument it fails, as so many arguments do, not in the details but in making a flawed assumption at the start.
You write: “Clearly, in such a case, even though it would cost significant money, you’d be obligated to jump into the pond to save the child.”
But this is simply not true.
For two reasons:
If we are obligated, it is by social pressure rather than ethics. If we thought people would find out about it, of course we’d feel obligated. But if not, maybe we would walk past. The proof of this is in exactly what you’re trying to discourage—the fact that when faced with a similar situation without the same social pressure, most people do not feel obligated.
The scenario you describe isn’t realistic. None of us wear $5000 suits. For someone who wears a $5000 suit, you’re probably right. But for most of us, our mental picture of “I don’t want to ruin my clothes” does not translate to “I am not willing to give up $5000.” I’m not sure what the equivalent realistic scenario is. But in real cases of people drowning, choking or needing to be resuscitated, many people struggle even to overcome their own timidity to act in public. We see people stabbed and murdered in public places and bystanders not intervening. I do not see compelling evidence that most strangers feel morally compelled to make major personal risks or sacrifices to save a stranger’s life. To give a very tangible example, how many people feel obligated to donate a kidney while they’re alive to save the life of a stranger? It is something that many of us could do, but almost nobody does. I know that is probably worth more than $5000, but it’s closer in order-of-magnitude than ruining our clothes.
Absolutely, it would be a better world for all of us if people did feel obliged to help strangers to the tune of $5000, but we don’t live in that world … yet.
The drowning child analogy is a great way to help people to understand why they should donate to charities like AMF, why they should take the pledge.
But if you present it as a rigorous proof, then it must meet the standards of rigorous proof in order to convince people to change their minds.
Additionally, my sense is that presenting it as an obligation rather than a free, generous act is not helpful. You risk taking the pleasure and satisfaction out of it for many people, and replacing that with guilt. This might convince some people, but might just cause others to resist and become defensive. There is so much evidence of this, where there are immensely compelling reasons to do things that even cost us nothing (e.g. vote against Trump) and still they do not change most people’s behaviour. I think we humans have developed very thick skins and do not get forced into doing things by logical reasoning if we don’t want to be.
I agree fully with the sentiment, but IMHO as a logical argument it fails, as so many arguments do, not in the details but in making a flawed assumption at the start.
You write: “Clearly, in such a case, even though it would cost significant money, you’d be obligated to jump into the pond to save the child.”
But this is simply not true.
For two reasons:
If we are obligated, it is by social pressure rather than ethics. If we thought people would find out about it, of course we’d feel obligated. But if not, maybe we would walk past. The proof of this is in exactly what you’re trying to discourage—the fact that when faced with a similar situation without the same social pressure, most people do not feel obligated.
The scenario you describe isn’t realistic. None of us wear $5000 suits. For someone who wears a $5000 suit, you’re probably right. But for most of us, our mental picture of “I don’t want to ruin my clothes” does not translate to “I am not willing to give up $5000.” I’m not sure what the equivalent realistic scenario is. But in real cases of people drowning, choking or needing to be resuscitated, many people struggle even to overcome their own timidity to act in public. We see people stabbed and murdered in public places and bystanders not intervening. I do not see compelling evidence that most strangers feel morally compelled to make major personal risks or sacrifices to save a stranger’s life. To give a very tangible example, how many people feel obligated to donate a kidney while they’re alive to save the life of a stranger? It is something that many of us could do, but almost nobody does. I know that is probably worth more than $5000, but it’s closer in order-of-magnitude than ruining our clothes.
Absolutely, it would be a better world for all of us if people did feel obliged to help strangers to the tune of $5000, but we don’t live in that world … yet.
The drowning child analogy is a great way to help people to understand why they should donate to charities like AMF, why they should take the pledge.
But if you present it as a rigorous proof, then it must meet the standards of rigorous proof in order to convince people to change their minds.
Additionally, my sense is that presenting it as an obligation rather than a free, generous act is not helpful. You risk taking the pleasure and satisfaction out of it for many people, and replacing that with guilt. This might convince some people, but might just cause others to resist and become defensive. There is so much evidence of this, where there are immensely compelling reasons to do things that even cost us nothing (e.g. vote against Trump) and still they do not change most people’s behaviour. I think we humans have developed very thick skins and do not get forced into doing things by logical reasoning if we don’t want to be.