Peter Singer on utilitarianism, influence, and controversial ideas

Post by simonh » Sat, Jun 10, 2023, 12:37 PM UTC

throw0101b wrote: post #51

simonh wrote: post #2

I’m disappointed he projects some sort of idealised aloof moral superiority on anything non human, as though humans are obviously morally inferior to any possible other species. That our failings are somehow objectively inexcusable. He chooses dolphins. The primary reproductive strategy of many dolphins is to gang up on a female, beat her into submission and gang rape her. They also routinely murder the infants of ri…

> [Dolphins] also routinely murder the infants of rivals. Infanticide was very common in ancient times pre-Christianity: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infanticide and is still somewhat accepted in modern many cultures if the child is a girl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex-ratio_imbalance_in_China It also should be noted that Singer himself is not against it in many circumstances (though he doesn't view the entit…

Post by chasd00 » Sat, Jun 10, 2023, 12:45 PM UTC

burgh wrote: post #31

yossarian1408 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relevant context. Singer has a lot of clout because people read some of his stuff in a first year philosophy class. For those who didn't get the memo that the man is a crazy misanthrope, him taking the idea of infanticide seriously is a pretty good indicator of what his specific grift actually is.

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Post by basisword » Sat, Jun 10, 2023, 12:49 PM UTC

George83728 wrote: post #36

basisword wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it’s in relation to abortion cutoff times it’s an important question to ask. I’ve never met someone with a rational answer to that question. It mostly boils down to what they personally feel comfortable with emotionally (and that’s fine, but not something you can apply in law for all people).

> It mostly boils down to what they personally feel comfortable with emotionally (and that’s fine, but not something you can apply in law for all people). Every democratic country has laws which are motivated by the way people feel emotionally. Check out this map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Europe#/media/File... 12 weeks in Germany, 24 weeks in the UK. Why is there such a difference? Because these laws…

Post by dale_glass » Sat, Jun 10, 2023, 1:05 PM UTC

George83728 wrote: post #47

dale_glass wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In reality we're all consequentialists, some masquerading as deontologists. Eg, try and find people who believe US participation in WWII was immoral because participation involved German children as collateral damage. Rules like "don't murder people" don't ever work. If you held yourself to that rule, your opponent would have a very easy time exploiting it. So in my opinion such rules more exist as a pretty fiction t…

Better to have the rules and sometimes find very compelling reasons to break them, than to never have the rules at all. The rules raise the activation energy. A rule against murder may be overridden when presented with an extreme circumstance, but utilitarianism without such a rule at all will permit (or even require) murder for very marginal theoretical gain. Under such systems you have the government going around m…

Post by specialist » Sat, Jun 10, 2023, 1:13 PM UTC

tomcam wrote: post #12

In his book “Practical Ethics” he recommends infanticide up to 2 years old as a logical extension to abortion.