The Moral Demands of Affluence: a Logical Problem for Cullity

In 2004, Garrett Cullity made a significant contribution to the literature on what the world's relatively affluent owe to the world's relatively poor through the publishing of The Moral Demands of Affluence. In this discussion note, I draw attention to a logical problem in Cullity's master argument in favor of the view that affluent individuals are justified in spending monetary resources on themselves at a level that lies well above what Peter Singer finds justified. The proposition I defend is that the premises leading to Cullity's conclusion about the moderate, and not extremely demanding, nature of his position are inconsistent. These premises license any conclusion, including the negation of the one preferred by Cullity.