A funny post from Eric Schwitzgebel. Excerpt:

I’m highly allergic to shellfish. I’m allergic enough that cross-contamination is an issue: If I’m served something that has been fried on the same surface as shellfish or touched with an implement that has touched shellfish, I will have a minor allergic reaction. Shellfish is so prevalent in the southern coastal Chinese diet that I have minor shellfish reactions at about half of my lunch or evening meals, even if I try to be careful. I’ve learned that there are only two types of restaurants that are entirely safe: strict Buddhist vegetarian restaurants and McDonalds…

So here’s my thought. Suppose that the two options are (a) an expensive Buddhist restaurant, maybe $300 Hong Kong dollars per person for 10 people, $3000 Hong Kong dollars total ($400 US dollars), or (b) McDonalds for $500 HKD total ($65 US dollars). The money saved by choosing option b, if donated to an effective charity, is within the ballpark of what could be expected to save one person’s life [update: or maybe about a tenth of a life; estimates vary]. On the other hand, the flesh from a steer can generate about 2000 McDonald’s hamburgers, so ten people would be eating only 1/200 of a steer. Clearly one [or one tenth of a] human life is more valuable than 1/200 of a steer. Therefore, the university should have taken Peter Singer to McDonalds and donated the savings to an effective charity.

I don’t see this as a reductio of Singer’s views so much as a straight implication. On the other hand, perhaps Singer’s view should be that Schwitzgebel is forbidden from eating at restaurants, ever.