Rhetorical Analysis Of The Singer Solution To World Poverty

The Singer Solution to world poverty, which was written by accomplished utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer, is a literary work that was written with the purpose of inspiring readers to forsake all excess in their lives and devote their nonessential income to charity. Mr. Singer is widely regarded for his cut and dry philosophy and his direct approach to literature which is clearly displayed in this work. In this work he deftly attacks the topic of world poverty and first world charity head on, similar to a no holds barred cage match. While the essay’s argument is logical to the point of simplicity and has powerful appeals to pathos, his aggressive tone and demand that the reader give up the entirety of their wealth diminishes his position

Using the dramatizations for emotional appeal followed by the logical appeal of the breakdown of finances could have created a very compelling argument, but was made ineffective due to the writer’s egregious use of a confrontational tone to make his point. An example of this in Singer’s essay is “I trust that many readers will reach for the phone and donate that $200. Perhaps you should do that before reading further”. Instead of trying to persuade the audience that taking the time to make a donation would be immeasurably beneficial, he tries to force the audience to conform to his will, succeeding only in coming across as arrogant. The writer’s tone also comes across as narcissistic by implying that maybe the audience does not deserve to read his words unless they make a sacrifice. Furthermore the writer states “a household making $100,000 could cut a yearly check for $70,000” which is an extremely unrealistic goal for an average donation. The writer could have been more effective in his argument if he set more realistic goals that were based more on class than an even percentage across the

Once again this stylistic approach could have been effective in creating the introspection necessary to convey his point, but due to the fact that the writer directs questions straight at the audience, instead of a fictional 3rd party, it makes the audience feel like they personally are being attacked. As stated by Singer “Now you too have the information necessary to save a child’s life. How should you judge yourself if you don’t do it?” This line makes the audience feel as though they are terrible people and that the writer himself is judging them for not conforming to his will. Instead of having the effect of aligning the audiences and his viewpoints and acting for the cause, it forces them to immediately reject his argument without any other thought because people naturally want to defend themselves. A more effective approach is appealing to the audiences positive feelings of self-worth and making them feel even better for agreeing with the writer’s