You're walking past a shallow pond and a child is drowning. You could save them at minimal cost to yourself. Should you?

In 1972, philosopher Peter Singer asked exactly that question — and used it to argue that we are all morally obligated to give far more than we do. That argument gave birth to one of the most influential moral movements of our time: Effective Altruism.

In this episode, Hamza sits down with philosopher David Edmonds to follow the argument from Singer's drowning child all the way to the rise and collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried.

They discuss:

— Why some charities are genuinely 1000x more effective than others

— The trolley problem and what it reveals about our moral intuitions

— Whether moral saints exist and whether we'd even want them to

— Derek Parfit's glass bottle and the ethics of future generations

— What SBF's collapse means for the Effective Altruism movement

— The role of risk and uncertainty in moral theorizing

David Edmonds is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Oxford University. With Nigel Warburton he co-founded Philosophy Bites — one of the most listened-to philosophy podcasts in the world with over 49 million downloads. His latest book is Death in a Shallow Pond (2025).

🎥 Youtube: https://youtu.be/ymK8WuQdGms?is=lIHzI7ybfCCbf_4t

📖 Death in a Shallow Pond: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Shallow-Pond-Philosopher-Strangers/dp/0691254028

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https://www.phlexiblephilosophy.com/phlexible-philosophy-podcast