Practical Ethics PDF
Preview Practical Ethics
This page intentionally left blank PracticalEthics ThirdEdition For thirty years, Peter Singer’s Practical Ethics has been the classic introduction to applied ethics. For this third edition, the author has revised and updated all the chapters and added a new chapter addressing climate change, one of the most important ethical chal- lengesofourgeneration. Some of the questions discussed in this book concern our daily lives.Isitethicaltobuyluxurieswhenothersdonothaveenoughto eat?Shouldwebuymeatproducedfromintensivelyrearedanimals? Am I doing something wrong if my carbon footprint is above the global average? Other questions confront us as concerned citizens: equalityanddiscriminationonthegroundsofraceorsex;abortion, the use of embryos for research, and euthanasia; political violence andterrorism;andthepreservationofourplanet’senvironment. Thisbook’slucidstyleandprovocativeargumentsmakeitanideal textforuniversitycoursesandforanyonewillingtothinkabouthow sheorheoughttolive. Peter Singer is currently Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at theUniversityCenterforHumanValuesatPrincetonUniversityand LaureateProfessorattheCentreforAppliedPhilosophyandPublic EthicsattheUniversityofMelbourne.Heistheauthororeditorof morethanfortybooks,includingAnimalLiberation(1975),Rethinking LifeandDeath(1996)and,mostrecently,TheLifeYouCanSave(2009). In2005,hewasnamedoneofthe100mostinfluentialpeopleinthe worldbyTimemagazine. Practical Ethics Third Edition PETER SINGER PrincetonUniversityandtheUniversityofMelbourne cambridgeuniversitypress Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore, Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,Dubai,Tokyo,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521707688 (cid:2)C PeterSinger1980,1993,2011 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firsteditionpublished1980 Secondeditionpublished1993 Thirdeditionpublished2011 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata Singer,Peter,1946– Practicalethics/PeterSinger.–3rded. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-0-521-88141-8(hardback)–isbn978-0-521-70768-8(paperback) 1.Ethics. 2.Socialethics. I.Title. bj1012.s49 2011 170–dc22 2010043690 isbn978-0-521-88141-8Hardback isbn978-0-521-70768-8Paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents Preface pagevii 1 AboutEthics 1 2 EqualityandItsImplications 16 3 EqualityforAnimals? 48 4 What’sWrongwithKilling? 71 5 TakingLife:Animals 94 6 TakingLife:TheEmbryoandFetus 123 7 TakingLife:Humans 155 8 RichandPoor 191 9 ClimateChange 216 10 TheEnvironment 238 11 CivilDisobedience,ViolenceandTerrorism 256 12 WhyActMorally? 276 Notes,ReferencesandFurtherReading 297 Index 323 v Preface Practical ethics covers a wide area. We can find ethical ramifications in mostofourchoices,ifwelookhardenough.Thisbookdoesnotattempt tocoverthewholearea.Theproblemsitdealswithhavebeenselectedon twogrounds:relevanceandtheextenttowhichphilosophicalreasoning cancontributetodiscussionofthem. The most relevant ethical issues are those that confront us daily: is it right to spend money on entertaining ourselves when we could use it to help people living in extreme poverty? Are we justified in treating animals as nothing more than machines producing flesh for us to eat? Should we drive a car – thus emitting greenhouse gases that warm the planet–ifwecouldwalk,cycleorusepublictransport?Otherproblems, likeabortionandeuthanasia,fortunatelyarenoteverydaydecisionsfor most of us; but they are still relevant because they can arise at some time in our lives. They are also issues of current concern about which anyactiveparticipantinademocraticsocietyshouldhaveinformedand consideredopinions. Theextenttowhichanissuecanbeusefullydiscussedphilosophically depends on the kind of issue it is. Some issues are controversial largely becausetherearefactsindispute.Shouldwebuildnuclearpowerstations toreplacethecoal-firedonesthatareamajorcauseofglobalwarming? Theanswertothatquestionseemstohanglargelyonwhetheritispos- sibletomakethenuclearfuelcyclesafe,bothagainstaccidentalrelease of radioactive materials and against terrorist attacks. Philosophers are unlikely to have the expertise to answer this question. (That does not meanthattheycanhavenothingtosayaboutit–forinstance,theymay stillbeabletosaysomethingusefulaboutwhetheritisacceptabletorun vii viii Preface a given risk.) In other cases, however, the facts are clear and accepted bybothsides,anditisconflictingethicalviewsthatgiverisetodisagree- mentoverwhattodo.Theimportantfactsaboutabortionarenotreally indispute–asweshallseeinChapter6,whendoesahumanlifebegin?is reallyaquestionofvaluesratherthanoffacts–buttheethicsofabortion ishotlydisputed.Withquestionsofthiskind,themethodsofreasoning andanalysisinwhichphilosophersengagereallycanmakeadifference. Theissuesdiscussedinthisbookareonesinwhichethical,ratherthan factual, disagreement plays a major role. Thinking about them philo- sophicallyshouldenableustoreachbetter-justifiedconclusions. Practical Ethics, first published in 1980, has been widely read, used in many courses at universities and colleges and translated into fifteen languages.Ialwaysexpectedthatmanyreaderswoulddisagreewiththe conclusions I defend. What I did not expect was that some would try to prevent the book’s arguments being discussed. Yet in the late 1980s andearly1990s,inGermany,AustriaandSwitzerland,oppositiontothe viewsoneuthanasiacontainedinthisbookreachedsuchapeakthatcon- ferencesorlecturesatwhichIwasinvitedtospeakwerecancelled,and courses taught by professors at German universities in which the book wastobeusedweresubjectedtosuchrepeateddisruptionthattheyhad to be abandoned. In Zurich in 1991, when I was attempting to lecture, a protester leapt onto the stage, tore my glasses from my face, threw them down on the floor and stamped on them. Less violent protests took place at Princeton University in 1999, when I was appointed to a chair of bioethics. People objecting to my views barred the entrance to thecentraladministrativebuildingoftheuniversity,demandingthatmy appointmentberescinded.SteveForbes,atrusteeoftheuniversityand atthetimeacandidatefortheRepublicannominationforthePresident of the United States, announced that as long as I was at the university, hewouldwithholdfurtherdonationstoit.Boththeuniversitypresident andIreceiveddeaththreats.Toitsgreatcredit,theuniversitystoodfirm initsdefenceofacademicfreedom. Theprotestsledmetoreflectonwhethertheviewsdefendedinthis bookreallyaresoerroneousorsodangerousthattheywouldbebetterleft unsaid.Althoughmanyoftheprotestersweresimplymisinformedabout whatIamsaying,thereisanunderlyingtruthtotheclaimthatthebook breaksataboo–orperhapsmorethanonetaboo.InGermanysincethe Naziera,formanyyearsitwasimpossibletodiscussopenlythequestion ofeuthanasiaorwhetherahumanlifemaybesofullofmiseryasnotto
The list of books you might like
