Wiley-Blackwell Unsanctifying Human Life: Essays on Ethics

Unsanctifying Human Life offers a collection 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. Review "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 From the Inside Flap 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. From the Back Cover 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. About the Author 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 Singe