Widening the circle

For Peter Singer, moral reason pushes us to widen, little by little, the circle of those who count: beyond our own to the distant stranger, then beyond our species to every being capable of suffering, for suffering weighs no less according to who bears it. This exercise trains you to flush out the excessive weight of closeness, and of mere human membership, in your choices, and to grant equal consideration to interests usually overlooked. Today it helps when a decision spontaneously favors someone close, and when seeing where your help actually goes.