Critical Analysis of the Drowning Child Analogy
As the Checklist (n.d.) makes clear, analysis of analogy should cover at least three aspects: significance and relevance of similarity, validity of comparison, and consistency of precedent. Barnet and Bedau (2011) also recommend assessing the assumptions used in the argument to establish validity. This can be done, too, by way of analysis of the analogy. Ultimately, Singers analogy crumbles under critical analysis as it can quickly be seen to be weak, overly simplistic, and inconsistent with precedent. Moreover, the assumption upon which it is based appears to be that individuals in a specific and unique time and place have the same deontological imperatives as nation-states do across multiple regions and much lengthier time frames. In short, there is too little differentiation built-in to the drowning child analogy, and this is why it does not stand up under critical analysis.
Significance and Relevance of Similarity
Singers (1972) analogy hinges on the moral imperative to act in situations where we can prevent harm at a minimal cost to ourselves. The similarity between rescuing a drowning child and aiding starving populations illustrates what at first sounds like an obvious universal moral duty. Indeed, the compelling nature of this analogy lies in its universal appeal to a shared sense of morality: if...
…is consistent and widely accepted in individual scenarios. However, its application to the broader context of global poverty and hunger encounters inconsistencies, particularly when considering the complexity of aid effectiveness and the potential for unintended consequences.
Conclusion
Differences such as the immediacy and visibility of the drowning child versus the distant, abstract concept of global poverty, weaken the analogy's impact. Also, the assumption that intervening in both scenarios bears similar ease and lack of significant consequences does not account for the complexities of global aid. Finally, the precedent falters when extending this straightforward moral duty to the intricate realities of global aid, where interventions might not always lead to straightforwardly…
