DAVID EDMONDS read philosophy at Oxford and has an established reputation for making philosophical debates accessible to a wider public. He achieves this laudable aim by writing as much about the lives of recent philosophers as about their concepts, by avoiding unnecessary jargon, and by giving his books and their chapters catchy titles. The focus of his latest book is on the controversial utilitarian and strident atheist philosopher Peter Singer. There is nothing particularly original about Death in a Shallow Pond — it makes no claim to originality — but it is easy to read, engaging, and highly topical.
Singer — whose writing is also very accessible — is known for his passionate vegetarianism and commitment to animal rights, as well as, more contentiously, for extending support for legalised abortion into the intentional killing of babies born with very serious disabilities. For him, these are all interlinked. He argues that, in terms of his utilitarianism, higher mammals have more rights than such human babies. Few have followed him on this, as Edmonds admits, but many, he claims, have been persuaded by Singer’s famous utilitarian “shallow pond” parable to commit themselves to altruistic giving.
This “parable” (my term rather than his) poses the ethical dilemma facing someone dressed in their best clothes who comes across a toddler about to drown in a shallow pond. Should they ruin expensive clothes to save the toddler, or just keep walking and hope that someone else will do so instead? Most people, surely, will see no dilemma here. Obviously, this person should save the toddler, perhaps after removing their expensive shoes.
A utilitarian philosopher, however, might first weigh up the different consequences of acting or not acting. Having done so, Singer implies, they will conclude that acting has the most beneficial outcome, and, if that is so, why don’t they feel obliged, say, to give as much carefully targeted money as possible (termed “effective giving”) to save other toddlers from accidents or diseases in less affluent countries?
Edmonds unpicks, chapter by chapter, the various objections that can be made to this parable. Does the link between the shallow pond and overseas aid really work? Their context, scope, and fixability are very different. Is utilitarianism essential to the parable itself? Following the influential philosopher Derek Parfit, many might conclude that morality was not simply about weighing different consequences: it was more about objective values. And wouldn’t it have been better if Singer had used real cases of altruistic behaviour instead of an invented story?
In addition, Edmonds recognises frankly that one of the rich people most influenced by the parable to adopt effective giving was the fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. Before his imprisonment, he claimed that it was his intention to give away most of his ill-gotten wealth. Ethical consistency was not evident in this rich disciple of Singer or even, at times, in Singer’s own more ascetic life.
What is a theologian to make of this? I have used the term “parable” deliberately. Unmentioned in the book is the obvious parallel with some of the most influential parables of Jesus — especially the so-called Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son in Luke. These invented stories are deployed to provoke predictable moral reactions and then to point to something far more important: the Kingdom of God. Edmonds is resolutely committed to secular philosophers (so Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor are overlooked), seldom mentioning religious motivation and discounting it whenever he does.
Edmonds perhaps exaggerates the social/financial influence of Singer’s parable on those committed to effective giving (whom he estimates as 80 per cent atheist). The Christian upbringing of, say, Melinda Gates or Derek Parfit is unmentioned. Even atheists might retain deep values derived from their Christian parents. He also misses that, in terms of the Sermon on the Mount, altruistic giving should be anonymous. Plenty of Christians tithe without boasting to the world about their giving.
The Revd Dr Robin Gill is Emeritus Professor of Applied Theology at the University of Kent and Editor of Theology.
Death in a Shallow Pond: A philosopher, a drowning child, and strangers in need
David Edmonds
Princeton University Press £20
(978-0-691-25402-9)
Church Times Bookshop £18
