Sometimes There is Nothing Wrong with Letting a Child Drown

But my favorite title, which I have borrowed for this article, is “Sometimes There Is Nothing Wrong with Letting a Child Drown” by Travis Timmerman. If it is wrong to let the child drown to protect your shoes, it is equally wrong to spend money on luxuries like new clothes, restaurant meals, vacations, etc. It’s worth remembering that Singer’s principle, even before Timmerman’s challenge, was never meant to collapse into utilitarianism. Singer’s principle instead lets her keep what protects things of comparable importance, things like her family’s basic security or her ability to keep practicing medicine at all. Put together, Singer’s principle sits in an uncomfortable middle position.