Peter Albert David Singer Quotes

• The belief that the animals exist because God created them – and that he created them so we can better meet our needs – is contrary to our scientific understanding of evolution and, of course, to the fossil record, which shows the existence of non-human primates and other animals millions of years before there were any human beings at all.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

• All the arguments to prove man’s superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering the animals are our equals.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

• The new freedom of expression brought by the Internet goes far beyond politics. People relate to each other in new ways, posing questions about how we should respond to people when all that we know about them is what we have learned through a medium that permits all kinds of anonymity and deception.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

• Human decision-making is complex. On our own, our tendency to yield to short-term temptations, and even to addictions, may be too strong for our rational, long-term planning.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

• You might hold an ethical position that it’s wrong to lie, but if you have plans for a war in Iraq, and you want to keep them secret for practical reasons – to reduce casualties, perhaps – and someone asks you about those plans, you may need to lie for a ‘good’ outcome.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Casualties, Lie

• What you could say, and what I do argue in the book, is that he doesn’t have as much concern for the lives of Iraqis as he does for the lives of Americans, or even frozen American embryos.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Iraqi, Embryos, Frozen, American

• We see things like reciprocity which are fairly central to our view of ethics. But if you’re talking about a set of worked-out rules on what we are supposed to do then, yes, it is a human product.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Tags in Ethics, Fairly, Reciprocity

• They tend to be pretty abstract ones then, like doing what will have the best consequences; obviously you wouldn’t specify what consequences are best, they may be different in some circumstances, so at a lower, more specific level, you may well get differences.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Lower, Consequences

• Then I think the sense of it being one community breaks down; but if you know instantly and respond within twenty-four hours, it’s a very different sort of situation.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Respond, Bowlines, Sense, Break

• The Pentagon said that these prisoners were kept in accordance with the Geneva Convention, and of course I was not reassured by that, but I couldn’t prove that that was wrong; so we’re clearer about that.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Geneva, Reassured, Pentagon, Reassuring, Convention, Ratified, Prisoners

• The notion that human life is sacred just because it is human life is medieval.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Death, Life

  Tags in Sacred, Advise, Medieval, Idea

• The idea that we can actually have an impact on places more or less instantly, too, by responding in some way or not responding, I think, also makes it true.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Tags in Instantly, Impact, Not Responding

• My work is based on the assumption that clarity and consistency in our moral thinking is likely, in the long run, to lead us to hold better views on ethical issues.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Tags in Assumption, Consistency, Global Warming, Clarity

• More often there’s a compromise between ethics and expediency.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Compromise

  Tags in Ethics, Expediency

• It’s also much clearer how much damage the occupation of Iraq is doing to America’s reputation and prestige around the world; and that’s just starting now to hit home in the United States.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Iraq, Feckless, Clearer, Prestige, Reputation, Starting, Damage

• It means that, in fact, it’s – whether fascist is the right word I don’t know – more of a plutocracy than anything resembling a democracy; it has become a nation controlled by a very small, very wealthy elite.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Democracy

  Tags in Controlled, Wealthy, Elite, Fascists, Resembling, Word

• In the sense that you’re not at the centre of power, like a president or prime minister of a major power, everyone is marginalised; my position doesn’t isn’t unique in that respect. I think there are different sorts of relevance in different contexts.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Position, President, Relevance, Prime, Centre Contexts, Marginalised, Unique

• In a situation where many national leaders do the same thing and look out for national interests, and with an issue like global warming, you’re likely to get no solution, so I think you have to have some kind of ethical trump on some of those issues.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Ethics, Issue, Global Warming, National Interest, Philosophy, Solution

• I’m not overly alarmist about it, but I do think there are some worrying signs, like the growing accumulation of wealth by a very small proportion of the population, plus elections in the US are much more dominated by money than anywhere else calling itself a democracy.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Elections, Accumulation, Alarmist, Dominated, Thereto, Plus, Worry, Wealth

• I’m a Utilitarian, so I don’t see the rule against lying as absolute; it’s always subject to some overriding utility which may prevent its exercise.

  Peter Albert David Singer

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Prevent, Utility, Absolute, Overriding, Override, Exercise, Lying

Peter Albert David Singer (76)

Birth:	6th July, 1946
Nationality:	Australian
Profession:	Philosopher, Professor

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Today's Anniversary - 21st January

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• 1944 - Jong Yong Yun
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• 1824 - Stonewall Jackson
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• 1997 - Colonel Tom Parker
• 1924 - Vladimir Lenin
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