Informal Assignment #1

Through the documentary of Examined Life, we get to see eight different philosophers expressing their own ideas about issues arising from our daily real life experiences. Each of the speakers presents their ideas with their own unique ways, which attract different individuals. The ideas presented by the eight philosophers are all fascinating and quite easy to comprehend. However, what Peter Singer said about ethical issues and the moral problems that we human have, caught my attention the most. What was interesting from his talk is that Peter used the setting of the extravagant shopping district in New York 5^th Avenue while he was talking about an ethical issue about money, which I think was quite an irony. He brought up a question of  “what we should be spending our money on?” as Peter was concerned about the fact that people do not feel like they have ethical issues when they spend money on expensive goods. In my point of view, maybe it is their lifestyle or maybe they just want to reward themselves as a result from their hard works. But look, have we ever realized how much we can help people who are really in need with that large amount of money we spend on a luxury pair of shoes or handbag? I believe people should learn how to differentiate between what they need and what they want. In this case, for example, luxury goods are just things that we want, not a necessity. We are lucky that we live in a developed country where we rarely find any cases of poverty, famine, and other serious adversities. Perhaps $10 is not a big sum of money for some of us who have already worked. That is how much we earn for every hour that we work. In contrast, the same amount of money means a lot in a third world country. According to Unicef, $10 can provide 400 children with enough safe drinking water for a day, or else it can provide enough vaccine to immunize 65 children against polio. In his talk, Peter mentioned further that ethics is also about the basic choices that we make in our lives. Have we made wise choices? Do we fell like we have the obligations to help people around us who are in need? Some people may have argued that we are not responsible for these people who are in need, yet, at least we have to have moral obligations to show our care and support for these people. We need to show our love rather than just feeling of compassion towards them. In retrospect, Peter also emphasized that ethics is not about what we do that impact others, it is rather what we decide to do or not to do. Our every action and decisions can make a difference for others, no matter how much it is. As we understand this fact, we should start thinking how we can contribute to this issue. For sure, this world would be a better place to live in if we can help one another, especially those who are less fortunate than us. Life would be much more meaningful if we share it with other people around us and have the sense of togetherness. 

On the same occasion, Peter talked about the absence of ethics that humans show towards animals. He brought up a story about a person who turned into vegetarian after he discovered how the animals are mistreated. Most of us may not be aware that indeed animals are treated harshly before they are slaughtered and sent to the market. They are tortured, restricted together in an unventilated place, etc. Seemingly, humans have taken these animals for granted. It is true that these animals are provided for our consumption, but humans should treat them with better care. Afterall, they are living things too. Who knows whether or not they do have feeling? Just like human does.