"Courage is the ennabling virtue for any philosopher," says
Cornel West in this clip from
The Examined Life, a film by
Astra Taylor.
Peter Singer talks about the morality of consumption and how we should spend our money, as he did in
this NY Times Magazine essay published two years ago today. Given the internecine violence
in the Congo, for example, Singer's 1971 essay,
Famine, Affluence, and Morality is worth a second (or first) look. The film features several other contemporary philosophers, including
Judith Butler,
Kwame Anthony Appiah, and
Slavoj Zizek. Of course, people looking for a more musical version of philosophy, could forgo the film and
just watch this Monty Python bit.
posted by cal71
on Dec 17, 2008 -
11 comments
"Same-sex marriage? Euthanasia? Child's play issues in the avant-garde philosophy of Peter Singer" (Singer has been the subject of
previous MeFi discussions). Having only skimmed those earlier threads, I don't know enough about Singer to usefully comment about the accuracy of World Magazine's interpretation of his views. What I found interesting was the tone of the article. The writer appears at times to bend over backwards to show that, while he thinks Singer's ideas are reprehensible, Singer himself seems like an OK guy (eg. "He approves of polyamory in the abstract but in his own life, to his credit, he has been married for 35 years to one woman"). Is World Magazine (mission: "To report, interpret, and illustrate the news ... from a perspective committed to the Bible as the inerrant Word of God") trying to present a balanced portrait of Singer and his views? Or is he being portrayed as a wolf in sheep's clothing? (original link courtesy of
Arts & Letters Daily)
posted by e-man
on Dec 13, 2004 -
63 comments
Unspeakable conversations (NYTimes) (
printer friendly). Controversial ethicist
Peter Singer (previously mentioned
1,
2,
3,
4) advocates the euthanasia of severely disabled infants. In the referenced article from the NYT magazine, attorney and disability rights advocate Harriet McBride Johnson describes a genteel encounter and debate with a man who may have had her killed. Aside from confronting the central issue (as we surely shall!), Ms. Johnson also describes the difficult balance between her impressions of Prof. Singer the man, her loathing of his ideas, and the enmity toward both from her colleagues at
Not Dead Yet. Have you ever tried to reconcile feelings so charged?
posted by tss
on Feb 15, 2003 -
16 comments
In the end, what is the ethical distinction between a Brazilian who sells a homeless child to organ peddlers and an American who already has a TV and upgrades to a better one — knowing that the money could be donated to an organization that would use it to save the lives of kids in need?
Does Peter Singer have the solution to world poverty?
posted by Sean Meade
on Apr 2, 2001 -
42 comments
Want to avoid sweatshop shoes? Buy Nike. So says
Peter Singer. Same applies to the other favourite targets of the "No Logo" activists. Which raises a curious irony: what happens when a corporation you've habitually demonised starts listening to to its critics? Is it possible to rehabilitate a Big Bad Brand?
posted by holgate
on Mar 26, 2001 -
22 comments
