Unsanctifying Human Life: Essays on Ethics

Peter Singer has been described as one of the world′s most influential philosophers, as well as one of the most dangerous. This collection, selected by Singer′s close colleague and collaborator Helga Kuhse, provides readers with a one–volume account of his underlying philosophy, as well as its practical implications upon everyday living. Unsanctifying Human Life brings together some of Singer′s best and most challenging articles from 1971 to the present. The book includes early critiques of various approaches to philosophy and the role of philosophers, followed by controversial works on the moral status of animals, infanticide, euthanasia, the allocation of scarce health care resources, embryo experimentation, environmental responsibility, and reflections on how we should live.

Introduction: The Practical Ethics of Peter Singer: Helga Kuhse. Part I: From Philosophical to Practical Ethics: . 1. The Triviality of the Debate over "Is–Ought" and the Definition of "Moral": Peter Singer. 2. Sidgwick and Reflective Equilibrium: Peter Singer. Part II: The Role of Philosophers: . 3. Philosophers are Back on the Job: Peter Singer. 4. Bioethics and Academic Freedom: Peter Singer. Part III: The Idea of Equality: . 5. All Animals are Equal: Peter Singer. 6. Is Racial Discrimination Arbitrary?: Peter Singer. 7. Killing Humans and Killing Animals: Peter Singer. 8. To Do or Not to Do?: Peter Singer. 9. The Great Ape Project: Paola Cavalieri and Peter Singer. Part IV: The Impartial Point of View:. 10. Famine, Affluence, and Morality: Peter Singer. 11. William Godwin and the Defense of Impartialist Ethics: Peter Singer, Leslie Cannold, and Helga Kuhse. Part V: Unsanctifying Human Life: . 12. The Moral Status of the Embryo: Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer. 13. Individuals, Humans, and Persons: The Issue of Moral Status: Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer. 14. IVF Technology and the Argument from Potential: Peter Singer and Karen Dawson. 15. Unsanctifying Human Life: Peter Singer. 16. Should All Seriously Disabled Infants Live?: Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer. 17. Is the Sanctity of Life Ethic Terminally Ill?: Peter Singer. Part VI: Choosing Between Lives: . 18. Allocating Health Care Resources and the Problem of the Value of Life: Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer. 19. Double Jeopardy and the Use of QALYs in Health Care Allocation: Peter Singer, John McKie, Helga Kuhse, and Jeff Richardson. Part VII: How We Should Live: . 20. A Vegetarian Philosophy: Peter Singer. 21. Environmental Values: Peter Singer. 22. Coping with Global Change: The Need for Different Values: Peter Singer. Part VIII: Move Over, Marx: . 23. Hegel and Marx – Dialogue with Peter Singer: Bryan Magee. 24. Darwin for the Left: Peter Singer. Peter Singer: Selected Publications, 1970–2000. Index.

Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University. He is the author of Animal Liberation , first published in 1975, and is widely credited with triggering the modern animal rights movement. His Practical Ethics is one of the most widely used texts in applied ethics, and Rethinking Life and Death received the 1995 Australian National Book Council′s Banjo Award for non–fiction. He is the editor of A Companion to Ethics (Blackwell 1991) and was the foundation president of the International Association of Bioethics. Helga Kuhse is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Monash University and Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of Caring (Blackwell 1997); Willing to Listen – Wanting to Die (1995); Individuals, Humans, and Persons (with Peter Singer, 1994); The Sanctity–of–Life Doctrine in Medicine (1987); and Should the Baby Live? (with Peter Singer, 1985). She is also co–editor, with Peter Singer, of A Companion to Bioethics and Bioethics: An Anthology , both published by Blackwell.

"As a writer about ethical issues, Peter Singer has no equal. He is our most influential philosopher because no one else has written about the tough questions with such fearless good sense. How he does it is a mystery: how can these essays be so intellectually rigorous, so calm and dispassionate, so morally compelling, and such fun to read all at the same time?" James Rachels, University of Alabama at Birmingham <!––end––> "This book offers a judicious selection from the vast body of Peter Singer′s writings. It demonstrates the extraordinary range, acumen, consistency, and fundamental moral decency of his philosophical thought. Anyone – including Singer′s critics – would benefit from, and be improved by, a close and fair–minded reading of this book." Jeff McMahan, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign "One of the most influential philosophers of our times." Croatian Journal of Philosophy