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Human beings have an overwhelming sense that they can choose how they act; I might get up and make up a cup of tea, or I might change my mind and make a cup of coffee instead, or I might choose to not get up at all. The future seems open and up to us - a kind of forking path that lies ahead. Yet, some philosophers argue that this is just an illusion. Are all of human actions determined? Is the future fixed?
Kantian ethics involves categorical moral rules; (i) one can only act on maxims which one can rationally will to become universal laws (ii) you can never use a person as a means to another end. From this: one must never tell a lie, steal, kill an innocent person, torture (no matter what the consequences may be).Utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory. The right thing to do is the action which brings about the best consequences - 'the greatest good for the greatest number.' From this, we might justify telling a lie, if we thought it might prevent hurting a person. We could also justify killing or torturing an innocent person, if it saved ten others.
To what extent must our conception of the good life be responsive to the needs and claims of others individually, locally, nationally and globally?In his 1972 paper, Famine, Affluence and Morality, Peter Singer argues that if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening (like death and suffering from lack of food, shelter and medical care) without sacrificing something of comparable moral importance, then we ought to do it.This principle entails that we give to the point of 'marginal utility' - that is, to the point that by 'giving more I would cause as much suffering to myself or my dependents as I would relieve by my gift.' This means reducing oneself to very near the material circumstances of a refugee.For Singer, we can't say that we are living good lives if we are not responding to this need.