Of course, infanticide needs to be strictly legally controlled and rare - but it should not be ruled out, any more than abortion. Peter Singer More Quotes by Peter Singer More Quotes From Peter Singer Science does not stand still, and neither does philosophy, although the latter has a tendency to walk in circles. Peter Singer circles doe philosophy If we all think only of our own interests, we are headed for collective disaster - just look at what we are doing to our planet's climate. Peter Singer climate looks thinking Once we ask why it should be that all human beings - including infants, the intellectually disabled, criminal psychopaths, Hitler, Stalin, and the rest - have some kind of dignity or worth that no elephant, pig, or chimpanzee can ever achieve, we see that this question is as difficult to answer as our original request for some relevant fact that justifies the inequality of humans and other animals. Peter Singer elephants animal pigs I don't understand the notion that modern farming is anything do to with nature. It's a pretty gross interference with nature. Peter Singer gross farming modern If we are prepared to take the life of another being merely in order to satisfy our taste for a particular type of food, then that being is no more than a means to our end. Peter Singer taste order mean Even in the era of AIDS, sex raises no unique moral issues at all. Decisions about sex may involve considerations about honesty, concern for others, prudence, and so on, but there is nothing special about sex in this respect, for the same could be said of decisions about driving a car. (In fact, the moral issues raised by driving a car, both from an environmental and from a safety point of view, are much more serious than those raised by sex.) Peter Singer honesty unique sex I don't think there's much point in bemoaning the state of the world unless there's some way you can think of to improve it. Otherwise, don't bother writing a book; go and find a tropical island and lie in the sun. Peter Singer book lying art Marx saw that capitalism is a wasteful, irrational system, a system which controls us when we should be controlling it. That insight is still valid; but we can now see that the construction of a free and equal society is a more difficult task than Marx realized. Peter Singer construction saws tasks Interest in business ethics courses has surged, and student activities at leading business schools are more focused than ever before on making business serve long-term social values. Peter Singer social-values long school I'd much rather be part of a society which greatly honors and respects people who are altruists and who are effective in their altruism, than one that either admires people because they're, you know, celebrity movie stars or because they're super wealthy just no matter what they do with their wealth because I think we ought to try to encourage more people to act in that way. Peter Singer honor people thinking Every day we act in ways that reflect our ethical judgements. Peter Singer judgement everyday way There has been opposition to experimenting on animals for a long time. This opposition has made little headway because experimenters, backed by commercial firms that profit by supplying laboratory animals and equipment, have been able to convince legislators and the public that opposition comes from uninformed fanatics who consider the interests of animals more important than the interests of human beings. Peter Singer important animal long So why don't we make ourselves the last generation on earth? If we would all agree to have ourselves sterilized then no sacrifices would be required - we could party our way into extinction! Peter Singer population sacrifice party Sometimes we know the best thing to do, but fail to do it. New year's resolutions are often like that. We make resolutions because we know it would be better for us to lose weight, or get fit, or spend more time with our children. The problem is that a resolution is generally easier to break than it is to keep. Peter Singer new-year children years I do not believe that it could never be justifiable to experiment on a brain-damaged human. Peter Singer brain animal believe It is a mistake to assume that the law should always enforce morality. Peter Singer morality law mistake It is an indication of the extent to which people are now isolated from the animals they eat that children brought up on storybooks that lead them to think of a farm as a place where animals wander around freely in idyllic conditions might be able to live out their entire lives without ever being forced to revise this rosy image. Peter Singer animal children thinking It would be nonsense to say that it was not in the interests of a stone to be kicked along the road...A stone has no interests because it cannot suffer. The capacity for suffering and enjoyment is, however, not only necessary, but also sufficient for us to say that a being has interests - at an absolute minimum, an interest in not suffering. A mouse, for example, does have an interest in not being kicked along the road because it will suffer if it is. Peter Singer suffering stones animal Somebody who eats twice as much factory-farmed products as he or she needs to is clearly doing twice as much damage to the planet. From a utilitarian point of view, that's twice as bad. Peter Singer damage views needs I don't understand the notion that modern farming is anything do to with nature. It's a pretty gross interference with nature. I think it ought to be governed by the standards of how it affects the individual animals, just as we'd want to deal with institutions that deal with humans by how they affect individual humans. Peter Singer want animal thinking
