> Because he's a person. Because she has problems. Because he has a family.
That's just appeal to empathy - any human has it, until he's a sociopath, but like any other basic instinct, it's human nature to reign over it and not let it run your life.
> Because he has a family. Because that's my friend and uncle and neighbor.
Most likely he's not - there are very few people who I (or you) would actually call family and care about in the way you care about family. This Joe is most likely just an anonymous person that you don't know or care about.
> I get where you're coming from about the exasperatingly impossible web of moral obligations, but you can't give up.
I can't give up something that I didn't put on myself first.
That's just appeal to empathy - any human has it, until he's a sociopath, but like any other basic instinct, it's human nature to reign over it and not let it run your life.
> Because he has a family. Because that's my friend and uncle and neighbor.
Most likely he's not - there are very few people who I (or you) would actually call family and care about in the way you care about family. This Joe is most likely just an anonymous person that you don't know or care about.
> I get where you're coming from about the exasperatingly impossible web of moral obligations, but you can't give up.
I can't give up something that I didn't put on myself first.