HOME WEB NEWS IMAGES CLASSIFIEDS YELLOW PAGESPOLLS - SURVEYS WIKI COUNTRIES PHOTOS US UK INDIA
Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow Pages
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
For other persons named Peter Singer, see Peter Singer (disambiguation).
| Western Philosophy Contemporary philosophy | |
|---|---|
Singer lecturing at Oxford University. | |
| Name | Peter Singer |
| Birth | July 6 1946 |
| School/tradition | Analytic · Utilitarianism |
| Main interests | Ethics |
| Influenced by | John Stuart Mill · Henry Sidgwick R.M. Hare · Jeremy Bentham |
| Influenced | Peter Unger · Colin McGinn Roger Crisp · Iain King Dale Jamieson · Gregory Pence |
Peter Albert David Singer (born July 6, 1946 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian philosopher. He is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and laureate professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE), University of Melbourne. He specializes in practical ethics, approaching ethical issues from a preference utilitarian and atheistic perspective.
He has served, on two occasions, as chair of philosophy at Monash University, where he founded its Centre for Human Bioethics. In 1996, he ran unsuccessfully as a Green candidate for the Australian Senate. In 2004, he was recognized as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies.
Outside academic circles, Singer is best known for his book Animal Liberation, widely regarded as the touchstone of the animal liberation movement. His views on questions in bioethics have also attracted attention and controversy, particularly in the United States, Canada and Germany.
Contents |
Singer\'s parents were Viennese Jews who escaped the German annexation of Austria and fled to Australia in 1938. His grandparents were less fortunate: his paternal grandparents were taken by the Nazis to Łódź, and were never heard from again; his maternal grandfather died in Theresienstadt. Douglas Aiton: Ten Things You Didn\'t Know about Professor Peter Singer; The Weekend Australian magazine, February 27-27, 2005 Singer\'s father imported tea and coffee, while his mother practised medicine. He attended Scotch College. After leaving school, Singer studied law, history and philosophy at the University of Melbourne, gaining his degree in 1967. He received an MA for a thesis entitled Why should I be moral? in 1969. He was awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Oxford, obtaining a B.Phil in 1971 with a thesis on civil disobedience, supervised by R. M. Hare, and subsequently published as a book in 1973.Democracy and Disobedience, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973, ISBN 0-19-824504-1.
After spending two years as a Radcliffe lecturer at University College, Oxford, he was visiting professor at New York University for 16 months. He returned to Melbourne in 1977, where he spent most of his career, apart from many visiting positions internationally until his move to Princeton in 1999.Peter Singer\'s university websiteCentre for Applied Philosophy and Public EthicsPeter Singer. Resources on Singer, including book excerpts, articles, interviews, reviews and writings about him.Peter Singer biographyPeter Singer debates his views on a BBC/RSA panel in London, Sep 5, 2006Peter Singer\'s monthly Project Syndicate commentary series "The Ethics of Life""Global Poverty and International Aid" Radio interview on Philosophy TalkSinger\'s article in Greater Good Magazine about the ethics of eating locally grown goodThe Singer Solution to World PovertyPeter Singer on animal rights (PDF)
Published in 1975, Animal LiberationAnimal Liberation: A New Ethics for our Treatment of Animals, New York: New York review/Random House, 1975, ISBN 0-394-40096-8; second edition, 1990, ISBN 0-940322-00-5. was a major formative influence on the animal liberation movement. Although Singer rejects rights as a moral ideal independent from his utilitarianism based on interests, he accepts rights as derived from utilitarian principles, particularly the principle of minimizing suffering.Compare his fellow utilitarian John Stuart Mill, whose defense of the rights of the individual in On Liberty (1859) is introduced with the qualification, "It is proper to state that I forego any advantage which could be derived to my argument from the idea of abstract right as a thing independent of utility".[improper synthesis?] Singer allows that animal rights are not exactly the same as human rights, writing in Animal Liberation that "there are obviously important differences between human and other animals, and these differences must give rise to some differences in the rights that each have."Op. cit., p. 2. He began his book by defending against Mary Wollstonecraft\'s 18th-century critic Thomas Taylor, who argued that if Wollstonecraft\'s reasoning in defense of women\'s rights were correct, then "brutes" would have rights too. Taylor thought he had produced a reductio ad absurdum of Wollstonecraft\'s view; Singer regards it as a sound logical implication.
In Animal Liberation, Singer argues against what he calls speciesism: discrimination on the grounds that a being belongs to a certain species. He holds the interests of all beings capable of suffering to be worthy of equal consideration, and that giving lesser consideration to beings based on their having wings or fur is no more justified than discrimination based on skin color. In particular, he argues that while animals show lower intelligence than the average human, many severely retarded humans show equally diminished, if not lower, mental capacity, and intelligence therefore does not provide a basis for providing nonhuman animals any less consideration than such retarded humans. Singer does not specifically contend that we ought not use animals for food insofar as they are raised and killed in a way that actively avoids the inflicting of pain, but as such farms are uncommon, he concludes that the most practical solution is to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet. Singer also condemns vivisection except where the benefit (in terms of improved medical treatment, etc.) outweighs the harm done to the animals used.Gareth Walsh, "Father of animal activism backs monkey testing", The Sunday Times, November 26, 2006.
His most comprehensive work, Practical Ethics,Practical Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, ISBN 0-521-22920-0; second edition, 1993, ISBN 0-521-43363-0. analyzes in detail why and how beings\' interests should be weighed. His principle of equal consideration of interests does not dictate equal treatment of all those with interests, since different interests warrant different treatment. All have an interest in avoiding pain, for instance, but relatively few have an interest in cultivating their abilities. Not only does his principle justify different treatment for different interests, but it allows different treatment for the same interest when diminishing marginal utility is a factor, favoring, for instance, a starving person\'s interest in food over the same interest of someone who is only slightly hungry.
Among the more important human interests are those in avoiding pain, in developing one\'s abilities, in satisfying basic needs for food and shelter, in enjoying warm personal relationships, in being free to pursue one\'s projects without interference, "and many others". The fundamental interest that entitles a being to equal consideration is the capacity for "suffering and/or enjoyment or happiness". He holds that a being\'s interests should always be weighed according to that being\'s concrete properties. He favors a \'journey\' model of life, which measures the wrongness of taking a life by the degree to which doing so frustrates a life journey\'s goals. The journey model is tolerant of some frustrated desire and explains why persons who have embarked on their journeys are not replaceable. Only a personal interest in continuing to live brings the journey model into play. This model also explains the priority that Singer attaches to interests over trivial desires and pleasures.
He requires the idea of an impartial standpoint from which to compare interests. He has wavered about whether the precise aim is the total amount of satisfied interests or the most satisfied interests among those beings who already exist prior to the decision one is making. The second edition of Practical Ethics disavows the first edition\'s suggestion that the total and prior-existence views should be combined. The second edition asserts that preference-satisfaction utilitarianism, incorporating the \'journey\' model, applies without invoking the first edition\'s suggestion about the total view. But the details are fuzzy and Singer admits that he is "not entirely satisfied" with his treatment.Practical Ethics, p. xi
Ethical conduct is justifiable by reasons that go beyond prudence to "something bigger than the individual," addressing a larger audience. Singer thinks this going-beyond identifies moral reasons as "somehow universal", specifically in the injunction to \'love thy neighbor as thyself\', interpreted by him as demanding that one give the same weight to the interests of others as one gives to one\'s own interests. This universalizing step, which Singer traces from Kant to Hare,Practical Ethics, p. 11 is crucial and sets him apart from moral theorists from Hobbes to David Gauthier, who tie reasons to prudence. Universalization leads directly to utilitarianism, Singer argues, on the strength of the thought that one\'s own interests cannot count for more than the interests of others. Taking these into account, one must weigh them up and adopt the course of action that is most likely to maximize the interests of those affected; utilitarianism has been arrived at. Singer\'s universalizing step applies to interests without reference to who has them, whereas a Kantian\'s applies to the judgments of rational agents (in Kant\'s kingdom of ends, or Rawls\'s Original Position, etc.). Singer regards Kantian universalization as unjust to animals.Animal Liberation, pp. 211, 256 As for the Hobbesians, Singer attempts a response in the final chapter of Practical Ethics, arguing that self-interested reasons support adoption of the moral point of view, such as \'the paradox of hedonism\', which counsels that happiness is best found by not looking for it, and the need most people feel to relate to something larger than their own concerns.
Practical Ethics includes a chapter arguing for radical redistribution of wealth to ameliorate absolute poverty (Chapter 8, "Rich and Poor"), and another making a case for resettlement of refugees on a large scale in industrialized countries (Chapter 9, "Insiders and Outsiders"). Although the natural, non-sentient environment has no intrinsic value for a utilitarian like Singer, environmental degradation is a profound threat to sentient life, and for this reason environmentalists are right to speak of wilderness as a `world heritage\'.Practical Ethics, p. 269
Consistent with his general ethical theory, Singer holds that the right to life is grounded in a being\'s personhood; that is, in the sense of a being\'s rationality and self-consciousness. In his view, the central argument against abortion is equivalent to the following logical syllogism:
It is wrong to kill an innocent human being.
A human fetus is an innocent human being.
Therefore it is wrong to kill a human fetus.Abortion 1995
His argument against this is to say that, while a fetus is admittedly a member of the human species, it is not a person, which is defined as a self conscious being that sees itself over time. Species membership is morally irrelevant, but personhood is relevant.Taking Life: Humans 1993
During a debate, Singer is quoted as saying "I do not think it is always wrong to kill an innocent human being," and "Simply killing an infant is never equivalent to killing a person."Paul Zielbauer. Princeton Bioethics Professor Debates Views on Disability and Euthanasia. The New York Times. October 13, 1999.
Singer classifies euthanasia as voluntary, involuntary, or non-voluntary. Voluntary euthanasia is that with the consent of the subject.
Singer\'s book \'Rethinking Life and Death: The collapse of our Traditional Ethics\' offers further examination of the ethical dilemmas concerning the advances of medicine. He covers the value of human life and quality of life ethics in addition to abortion and other controversial ethical dilemmas. [ISBN-13: 978-0-312-14401-2]
In "Famine, Affluence, and Morality","Famine, Affluence, and Morality", Philosophy and Public Affairs, vol. 1, no. 3 (Spring 1972), pp. 229-243. one of Singer\'s best-known philosophical essays, he argues that the injustice of some people living in abundance while others starve is morally indefensible. Singer proposes that anyone able to help the poor should donate part of their income to aid poverty relief and similar efforts. Singer reasons that, when one is already living comfortably, a further purchase to increase comfort will lack the same moral importance as saving another person\'s life. (One point of contention is at what point a person may be said to be \'living comfortably\' and "Famine, Affluence And Morality" does not set out how to specify this.) Singer himself reports that he donates 25% of his salary to Oxfam and UNICEF.FAQ on Singer\'s webpage at Princeton In "Rich and Poor", the version of the aforementioned article that appears in the second edition of Practical Ethics,Op. cit., pp. 218-246. his main argument is presented as follows: If we can prevent something bad without sacrificing anything of comparable significance, we ought to do it; absolute poverty is bad; there is some poverty we can prevent without sacrificing anything of comparable moral significance; therefore we ought to prevent some absolute poverty.
In a 2001 review of Midas Dekkers\'s Dearest Pet: On Bestiality,"Heavy Petting", Nerve, March 2001. Singer stated that "mutually satisfying activities" of a sexual nature may sometimes occur between humans and animals and that writer Otto Soyka would condone such activities. Singer explains Dekkers belief that zoophilia should remain illegal if it involves what he sees as "cruelty", but otherwise is no cause for shock or horror. However, Singer does not claim to endorse the views of either Dekker or Soyka, merely to be explaining them. Singer believes that although sex between species is not normal or natural,In one interview, Singer said that he "does not support" having sex with animals, and that having sex with other people is "more fun." (The Colbert Report, Comedy Central, December 11, 2006.) it does not constitute a transgression of our status as human beings, because human beings are animals or, more specifically, "we are great apes". Some religious individuals and animal rights groups have condemned this view,[citation needed] while the animal rights organization PETA has expressed cautious support.Sarah Boxer. "Yes, but Did Anyone Ask the Animals\' Opinion?", The New York Times, June 9, 2001.
Singer also works in the field of social psychology. Singer\'s writing appeared in Greater Good Magazine, published by the Greater Good Science Center of the University of California, Berkeley. Singer\'s contributions include the interpretation of scientific research into the roots of compassion, altruism, and peaceful human relationships. Singer\'s article, "Can You Do Good by Eating Well?" examines the ethics of eating locally grown food.
In A Darwinian Left,A Darwinian Left: Politics, Evolution, and Cooperation, New Haven : Yale University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-300-08323-8. Singer outlines a plan for the political left to adapt to the lessons of Darwinism and evolutionary biology. He says that evolutionary psychology suggests that humans naturally tend to be self-interested. He further argues that the evidence that selfish tendencies are natural must not be taken as evidence that selfishness is right. He concludes that game theory (the mathematical study of strategy) and experiments in psychology offer hope that self-interested people will make short-term sacrifices for the good of others, if society provides the right conditions. Essentially Singer claims that although humans possess selfish, competitive tendencies naturally, they have a substantial capacity for cooperation that has also been selected for by evolution.
Singer\'s positions have been challenged by many different groups concerned with what they see as an attack upon human dignity, from advocates for disabled people to right-to-life supporters and people who challenge what they believe are his efforts to supplant the central role of religion from ethical debate.[citation needed]
In Germany, his positions have been compared to Nazism and his lectures have been repeatedly disrupted. Some claim that Singer\'s utilitarian ideas lead to eugenics. American economist Steve Forbes ceased his donations to Princeton University in 1999 because of Singer\'s appointment to an honorable position.Steve Forbes Declines Princeton Financial Backing Due to Singer Hiring Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal wrote to organizers of a Swedish book fair to which Singer was invited that "A professor of morals ... who justifies the right to kill handicapped newborns ... is in my opinion unacceptable for representation at your level."Don Felder, "Professor Death will fit right in at Princeton, Jewish World Review, October 28, 1998. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, the leading organization for blind people in the United States, strongly criticized Singer\'s appointment to the Princeton Faculty in a banquet speech at the organization\'s national convention in July 2001, claiming that Singer\'s support for euthanizing disabled babies could lead to disabled older children and adults being valued less as well.Independence and the Necessity for Diplomacy
Some commentators expressed their disapproval at the publication of Singer\'s review essay in which he discusses zoophilia."Animal Crackers", The Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2001.
Proponents of other ethical systems like deontology or virtue ethics have found in Singer\'s work ammunition against utilitarianism and its consequentialism (that is, its assumption that the morality of an act is to be evaluated according to its consequences).[improper synthesis?] They claim that his conclusions show that utilitarianism may lead to eugenics or infanticide in certain circumstances.[citation needed]
Singer has replied that many people judge him based on secondhand summaries and short quotations taken out of context, not his books or articles."[T]he aim of my argument is to elevate the status of animals rather than to lower the status of any humans" (Practical Ethics, p. 77).
Singer experienced the complexities of some of these questions in his own life. Singer\'s mother had Alzheimer\'s disease. He said, "I think this has made me see how the issues of someone with these kinds of problems are really very difficult".Quoted in Michael Specter, "The Dangerous Philosopher", The New Yorker, September 6, 1999. In an interview with Ronald Bailey published in December 2000 he explained that he is not the only person who is involved in making decisions about his mother (he has a sister). He did say that if he were solely responsible, his mother might not be alive today.Ronald Bailey, "The Pursuit of Happiness", Reason (magazine), December 2000. (Singer\'s mother died shortly thereafter.) This incident has led to accusations of hypocrisy.[citation needed] Unspeakable Conversations By HARRIET MCBRYDE JOHNSONRobert P. George writes: I Was Wrong About Peter SingerBless Peter Singer — by Rabbi Avi ShafranThe Worth of Human Life is Unquestionable; by Shmully HechtStatement of Marca Bistro, chairperson, National council on disability: regarding the hiring of Peter SingerAgainst the Philosophy of Peter Singer — from the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)How to murder a Bolivian boy by Anthony Daniels, The New Criterion, Vol. 19, No. 10, June 2001Animals, humans, persons: Problematic implications of Singer’s notion of “animal rights” by Josef Bordat
Though Singer focuses more than many philosophers on applied ethical questions, he has also written in depth on foundational issues in meta-ethics, including why one ethical system should be chosen over others. In The Expanding Circle,The Expanding Circle: Ethics and Sociobiology, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1981, ISBN 0-374-23496-5. he argues that the evolution of human society provides support for the utilitarian point of view. On his account, ethical reasoning has existed from the time primitive foraging bands had to cooperate, compromise, and make group decisions to survive. He elaborates: "In a dispute between members of a cohesive group of reasoning beings, the demand for a reason is a demand for a justification that can be accepted by the group as a whole."The Expanding Circle p. 93 Thus, consideration of others\' interests has long been a necessary part of the human experience. Singer believes that contemplative analysis may now guide one to accept a broader utilitarianism:
Singer elaborates that viewing oneself as equal to others in one\'s society and at the same time viewing one\'s society as fundamentally superior to other societies may cause an uncomfortable cognitive dissonance. This is the sense in which he means that reason may push people to accept a broader utilitarian stance.The Expanding Circle p. 119 Critics like Ken Binmore say that this cognitive dissonance is apparently not very strong, since people often knowingly ignore the interests of faraway societies quite similar to their own, and that the "ought" above only applies if one already accepts Singer\'s basic premises about the equality of various interests.Ken Binmore, Natural Justice, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-19-517811-4.
An alternative line taken by Singer about the need for ethicsIn, e.g., the last chapter of Practical Ethics. is that living the ethical life may be, on the whole, more satisfying than seeking only material gain. He invokes the hedonistic paradox, noting that those who pursue material gain seldom find the happiness they seek. Having a broader purpose in life may lead to more long-term happiness. On this account, impartial (self-sacrificing) behavior in particular matters may be motivated by self-interested considerations from a broader perspective.
Singer has also implicitly argued that a watertight defense of utilitarianism is not crucial to his work. In "Famine, Affluence, and Morality", he begins by saying that he would like to see how far a seemingly innocuous and widely endorsed principle can take us; the principle is that one is morally required to forgo a small pleasure to relieve someone else\'s immense pain. He then argues that this principle entails radical conclusions — for example, that affluent people are very immoral if they do not give up some luxury goods in order to donate the money for famine relief. If his reasoning is valid, either it is not very immoral to value small luxuries over saving many lives, or such affluent people are very immoral. As Singer argues in the same essay, regardless of the soundness of his fundamental defense of utilitarianism, his argument has value in that it exposes conflicts between many people\'s stated beliefs and their actions.
Some of his other publications include:
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
