The Rules of Rescue - out now!

My book—The Rules of Rescue—is officially out! It’s Open Access, so you can download a PDF for free.

The book deals with a host of questions that have bothered me for a long time. What costs are we morally required to incur to rescue strangers? Is failing to assist distant people in need morally like letting nearby people drown? When do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? 

I defend a novel picture of the moral reasons and requirements to use time, money, and other resources to help others the most. It’s a non-consequentialist picture according to which there are significant permissions not to spend your life helping, as well as robust constraints against helping when it involves harming, lying, or stealing. Requirements to help are grounded not in the promotion of goodness per se, but in the prevention of serious harm to imperiled individuals, whether near or far. 

I argue that altruistic activities are often constrained by requirements of effectiveness, to direct resources in ways that help more rather than less. I explore effectiveness in the context of what you’re required to do over the course of your whole life. I conclude that even if you’re not morally required to be an effective altruist, you may have to help as much as if you were one. 

Visit the book’s website: https://theronpummer.com/the-rules-of-rescue/

Buy a printed copy: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rules-of-rescue-9780190884147?q=pummer&lang=en&cc=us

Buy an ebook (read aloud): https://www.vitalsource.com/products/the-rules-of-rescue-theron-pummer-v9780190884161