Open QuestionsLukas & Nancy’s seminar
← Morals

Session 01 · 48 min preparation

How much do we morally owe strangers when helping them costs us?

Put a demanding case for moral obligation beside a critique of empathy as a guide to action.

01

Preparation

Read, listen, notice.

01

The demanding view

Famine, Affluence, and Morality

Peter Singer’s classic argument that distance does not reduce our obligation to prevent suffering.
Read28 min↗
02

The critique

Against Empathy

Paul Bloom argues that emotional empathy is biased and rational compassion is a better guide.
Read20 min↗
02

The conversation

Questions worth sitting with.

  1. 01

    Which claim felt most persuasive, and what assumption does it depend on?

  2. 02

    Where do the two resources genuinely disagree?

  3. 03

    What evidence would make you change your mind?

  4. 04

    Where does this question show up in your own life?

03

Thought experiment

The €500 decision

You would ruin €500 shoes to save a drowning child in front of you. Would you also give €500 to save a child far away? If not, identify exactly which morally relevant fact changed.

04

Private reflection

Write before you persuade.

Your private notebook and shared synthesis live behind your personal seminar ID.

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05

Together

Shared synthesis.

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