Death in a Shallow Pond

03/08/2026
60 min
[video_views]

Is letting people in the developing world die – when a small donation could save them – morally akin to saving our shoes instead of a drowning child? That was the stark claim of Peter Singer’s 1972 thought experiment. Widely criticised yet hugely influential, it reshaped debates on global poverty and helped inspire the Effective Altruism movement. David Edmonds, bestselling author of Wittgenstein’s Poker and The Murder of Professor Schlick, returns to Jewish Book Week to discuss Death in a Shallow Pond with writer and philosopher Simon May.

About the speakers

David Edmonds

David Edmonds is the bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and popular books on philosophy, including Wittgenstein’s Poker (with John Eidinow). His other books include Parfit, The Murder of Professor Schlick, and Would You Kill the Fat Man? (all Princeton). A Distinguished Research Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Uehiro Oxford Institute and a former […]

Simon May

Simon May was born in London, the son of a violinist and a brush manufacturer. Visiting professor of philosophy at King’s College London, his books include Love: A New Understanding of an Ancient Emotion; Love: A History; Nietzsche’s Ethics and his War on ‘Morality’; The Power of Cute; How to Be a Refugee; Jump! A New Philosophy […]

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Death in a Shallow Pond

03/08/2026
|
60 min

Speaker

David Edmonds

David Edmonds is the bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and popular books on philosophy, including Wittgenstein’s Poker (with John Eidinow). His other books...

Simon May

Simon May was born in London, the son of a violinist and a brush manufacturer. Visiting professor of philosophy at King’s College London, his...