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This episode is about Wolf\\u2019s \\u201cMoral Saints,\\u201d Peter Singer\\u2019s \\u201cFamine, Affluence and Morality,\\u201d and Larissa Macfarquhar\\u2019s Strangers Drowning. \\xa0

Susan Wolf thinks that devoting your life to helping others would be a real drag. It\\u2019d interfere with playing tennis and reading Tolstoy.\\xa0

True enough but some people might have philosophical and personal reasons to do it anyway.\\xa0

For example, Peter Singer argues that, if you think a child\\u2019s life is worth more than your shoes, then you\\u2019re morally obliged to give away all your money to charity. \\xa0

Larissa Macfarquhar helps out with the personal reasons. She\\u2019s written a book that profiles a whole bunch of real-life do-gooders. And it turns out that even though the saintly life is tough, the saints are getting something out of it.\\xa0 And from their perspective, a life of Tolstoy and tennis might not be a great as Wolf makes it out to be.\\xa0

References
Macfarquhar, Strangers Drowning
Singer, \\u201cFamine, Affluence, and Morality\\u201d
Wolf, \\u201cMoral Saints\\u201d\\xa0

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