2009 Fall Proseminar Student Work

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Reconstructions of Singer Chapter

Recon #1

Singer’s general claim seems to be that the structure of distinctly separate nations within the world causes one’s view of ethics and morality to be faulty and incomplete. He supports this claim with four major arguments.

The first claim is that nationalism causes unnecessary loss of life through inaction. Morality which emphasizes the importance of one’s own citizens stops countries from acting in a manner that would save many lives in other countries because it would risk some lives of its own citizens. This is exemplified by the events in Rwanda and Kosovo, in which professional soldiers from other countries could have saved many lives with small amounts of casualties.

Singer’s second argument is that improper actions between nations causes war and excessive loss of life. As an example, he states that the First World War began because one nation asked too much of another and therefore attributes the nine million deaths to the structure of sovereign nations. Essentially, a morality based on nationalism is responsible for the First World War, according to Singer.

The final major rationale that Singer provides for why the current structure of sovereign states is inadequate is how modern globalization has changed the world. He cites terrorism and advances in communication as events which have created an integrated world community that goes beyond borders. Singer argues that this interconnectedness requires that we broaden the way we think ethically from one society or country to one world. SWilliams2 06:04, 18 September 2009 (UTC)

Recon #2

In his first chapter of One World entitled “A Changing World,” Peter Singer’s main point is rather self-evident: the state of the world was we know it is changing. However, more specifically this change is being experienced in the political landscape of the world. At the end of the chapter he uses this determination to establish the relevancy of his book, because for a nation to ignore adoption of a “global ethical viewpoint” is not only immoral but also a grave threat to its own security (13). However, for the purposes of this first chapter of the book, three different arguments (perhaps better characterized as examples and therefore representative of inductive reasoning from specifics to a generalization) are presented to affirm the thesis that the world of nation-states is in fact altering greatly.

The first argument encountered is that increased interconnectedness of the global community has made unequivocal nation-first attitudes appear anachronistic. Singer provides two examples in making this argument. First, since global warming is an issue the affects all nations, President George W. Bush is incorrect to adopt a nation-first stance in protecting the American economy before a discussion on the global issue at hand; he does not lend America to being a good member of the global community, let alone a leader in it. Another example is that of limited risk of the lives of soldiers to intervene for humanitarian purposes, as seen in the Balkans and Kosovo.

The second argument is also related to the interconnectedness of nations across the globe, namely that the concept of national sovereignty is undergoing an upheaval. He compares the actions of Austria-Hungary leading up to the First World War with that of the United States in its conflict in Afghanistan. In both cases, the prosecuting nations made forcible requests of a sovereign nation to hand over individuals responsible for an act of terrorism. History has condemned Austria-Hungary, but the actions of the U.S have been deemed justified.

Finally, Singer points to the influential role of technology. He identifies it as a means of supporting international nongovernmental entities such as transnational corporations and the World Trade Organization. The increased power and influence of these organizations that operate beyond the bounds of any one national government has great ramifications on the role of a nation in self-direction and economic regulation. One such example is Thomas Friedman’s “Golden Straitjacket.”