Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter

Peter Singer is often described as the world's most influential philosopher. He is also one of its most controversial. The author of important books such as Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, Rethinking Life and Death, and The Life You Can Save, he helped launch the animal rights and effective altruism movements and contributed to the development of bioethics. Now, in Ethics in the Real World, Singer shows that he is also a master at dissecting important current events in a few hundred words.In this book of brief essays, he applies his controversial ways of thinking to issues like climate change, extreme poverty, animals, abortion, euthanasia, human genetic selection, sports doping, the sale of kidneys, the ethics of high-priced art, and ways of increasing happiness. Singer asks whether chimpanzees are people, smoking should be outlawed, or consensual sex between adult siblings should be decriminalized, and he reiterates his case against the idea that all human life is sacred, applying his arguments to some recent cases in the news. In addition, he explores, in an easily accessible form, some of the deepest philosophical questions, such as whether anything really matters and what is the value of the pale blue dot that is our planet. The collection also includes some more personal reflections, like Singer's thoughts on one of his favorite activities, surfing, and an unusual suggestion for starting a family conversation over a holiday feast.Now with a new afterword by the author, this provocative and original book will challenge—and possibly change—your beliefs about many real-world ethical questions

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- CONTENTS -- Introduction -- Acknowledgments -- Big Questions -- The Value of a Pale Blue Dot -- Does Anything Matter? -- Is There Moral Progress? -- God and Suffering, Again -- Godless Morality (with Marc Hauser) -- Are We Ready for a "Morality Pill"? (with Agata Sagan) -- The Quality of Mercy -- Thinking about the Dead -- Should This Be the Last Generation? -- Philosophy on Top -- Animals -- Europe's Ethical Eggs -- If Fish Could Scream -- Cultural Bias against Whaling? -- A Case for Veganism -- Consider the Turkey: Thoughts for Thanksgiving -- In Vitro Meat -- Chimpanzees Are People, Too -- The Cow Who . . . -- Beyond the Ethic of the Sanctity of Life -- The Real Abortion Tragedy -- Treating (or Not) the Tiniest Babies -- Pulling Back the Curtain on the Mercy Killing of Newborns -- No Diseases for Old Men -- When Doctors Kill -- Choosing Death -- Dying in Court -- Bioethics and Public Health -- The Human Genome and the Genetic Supermarket -- The Year of the Clone? -- Kidneys for Sale? -- The Many Crises of Health Care -- Public Health versus Private Freedom? -- Weigh More, Pay More -- Should We Live to 1,000? -- Population and the Pope -- Sex and Gender -- Should Adult Sibling Incest Be a Crime? -- Homosexuality Is Not Immoral -- Virtual Vices -- A Private Affair? -- How Much Should Sex Matter? (with Agata Sagan) -- God and Woman in Iran -- Doing Good -- The One-Percent Solution -- Holding Charities Accountable -- Blatant Benevolence -- Good Charity, Bad Charity -- Heartwarming Causes Are Nice, But Let's Give to Charity with Our Heads -- The Ethical Cost of High-Price Art -- Preventing Human Extinction (with Nick Beckstead and Matt Wage) -- Happiness -- Happiness, Money, and Giving It Away -- Can We Increase Gross National Happiness? -- The High Cost of Feeling Low -- No Smile Limit

Peter Singer is often described as the world's most influential philosopher. He is also one of its most controversial. The author of important books such as Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, Rethinking Life and Death, and The Life You Can Save, he helped launch the animal rights and effective altruism movements and contributed to the development of bioethics. Now, in Ethics in the Real World, Singer shows that he is also a master at dissecting important current events in a few hundred words. In this book of brief essays, he applies his controversial ways of thinking to issues like climate change, extreme poverty, animals, abortion, euthanasia, human genetic selection, sports doping, the sale of kidneys, the ethics of high-priced art, and ways of increasing happiness. Singer asks whether chimpanzees are people, smoking should be outlawed, or consensual sex between adult siblings should be decriminalized, and he reiterates his case against the idea that all human life is sacred, applying his arguments to some recent cases in the news. In addition, he explores, in an easily accessible form, some of the deepest philosophical questions, such as whether anything really matters and what is the value of the pale blue dot that is our planet. The collection also includes some more personal reflections, like Singer's thoughts on one of his favorite activities, surfing, and an unusual suggestion for starting a family conversation over a holiday feast. Provocative and original, these essays will challenge--and possibly change--your beliefs about a wide range of real-world ethical questions.