Title Ethics in the Real World

Author Peter Singer

Year Published 2017

Kind of Book Philosophy/Politics

How strongly I recommend it 8/10 

My Impressions Since this book is broken down into 82 short essays, l am tempted to say it makes for great bathroom reading....Though sometimes it's hard to take a shit while you're having an existential crisis from Pondering questions Singer poses such as..."Is it better to live or to have never been?" or "Is the continuance of our species justifiable in the face of our knowledge that due to current global warming predictions it will certainly bring suffering to innocent future human beings?" Singer's  essays range from ethical questions most of us have probably asked ourselves before such as...the morality of eating animals and abortion, but there are plenty of ethical issues Singer poses that you've probably never thought about like, "what the government's stance on child-sex robots ought to be?" or "Should heavier people be charged more money to fly in planes?"

This is a great read for thought provoking insights that inform the ethical real world decisions we make every day!

Date Read circa 2018

Big Ideas

  • If natural disasters are caused by god because of mans original sin than it makes no sense why innocent animals should be killed in these disasters too

 

  • Dumber species of animals might actually experience MORE pain than smarter species

Because

  • Dumber species of animals are dumb and require more warning to avoid pain than smarter species.

Therefore

  • It more ethical to kill trillions of fish than billions of land animals

 

  • Dr.'s should not keep people alive by any means necessary

Because

  • There are higher spending priorities to a community than prolonging the lives of elderly nursing home patients with severe dementia for a few more days

 

  • The risks associated with letting kids play violent video games outweighs whatever benefits may exist from them

 

  • Some GMOs may have useful roles to play in public health, and others in fighting the challenge of growing food in an era of climate change

Therefore

  • We should consider the merits of each genetically modified plant on a case by case basis.

 

  • If you outlaw performance enhancing drugs then athlete with the best genes will win.

 

Surprising Facts

  • the word for depression in Zimbabwe translates in English to "thinking too much"

  • Long commutes lead to the most stress and unhappiness