The Most Influential Living Moral Philosopher: The World Is Becoming a Better Place

Peter Singer, a philosopher who regularly tops lists of the world's most influential people, is known for his controversial yet highly compelling utilitarian views. Utilitarian ethics holds that the consequences of an action determine whether that action is moral or immoral. Based on this view, Singer has addressed the following subjects, in addition to the subjects of the view itself.

• Failing to donate surplus wealth to people in need is no different from walking indifferently past a child drowning in a shallow pond.

• Ending the life of a newborn infant with a severe disability is acceptable.

• Sexual behavior with animals is unethical insofar as it involves cruelty toward the animal; such behavior is entirely unobjectionable only in activities that are mutually consenting.

• Animal rights are as morally important as human rights, and avoiding this issue is "speciesism."

Singer has been highly influential in shaping the "effective altruism" movement. This movement advocates donating 10 percent of our income to charities that are effective in practice. He has also had a major impact on debates related to factory farming, vegetarianism, and climate change. His recent book, "Ethics in the Real World," consisting of 82 short essays for a non-academic audience, has just been published. These essays examine topics such as: whether heavier people should pay more for airline tickets, whether incest between consenting adults should be illegal, and why recreating a scene from a Batman movie to cheer up a child with cancer was a misuse of money.

Singer is a realist who grapples with some of the most challenging questions facing humanity. He is also a great optimist. Although he says political discourse in the United States has reached a new low, Britain's exit from the European Union was a disheartening victory for xenophobia, and the influence of far-right governments is growing, he does not believe our situation today is worse than it was 10, 20, or 40 years ago. "I have always had an optimistic view of the destination we are moving toward and have tended to look positively at the progress we are making," he says. "Despite the news of the war in Syria and the terrible events happening elsewhere, the world is generally in a much better state than in past eras. In the last one or two decades, fewer people have been killed by war, genocide, or other forms of violence than in any other decade. This news should be a comfort to us."

Although concern about terrorism is understandable, Singer points out that ultimately it is not an existential threat to us because the number of people killed by terrorists "is far lower compared to the number of people killed in traffic accidents."

And while the current refugee crisis is the worst since World War II, Singer points out that the tens of millions of displaced people worldwide today cannot be compared to the hundreds of millions who have emerged from extreme poverty over the past 50 years. Given these facts, he says, the world is becoming a better place. It is not true to say he is indifferent to the current refugee crisis. Singer suggests that the larger number of refugees today may partly be because fleeing disaster has become easier, and in past decades "those who were not displaced endured greater suffering by staying." Although the civil war in Syria is an undeniably horrific humanitarian crisis, Singer says this should not obscure the fact that, on the whole, the world is slowly improving. Of course, this truth does not absolve us of our moral responsibilities. Singer believes that our duty to people in other parts of the world is just as great as our duty to those living within our own country. But he knows that xenophobia has become prevalent, including on the left of the political spectrum (he is disappointed and adds that Bernie Sanders is "somewhat like Trump" in worrying that American jobs are moving overseas). Therefore, given that accepting large numbers of refugees would lead to a sharper rise in dangerous far-right sentiment, Singer believes the most practical solution is financial aid to the largest refugee camps in less affluent countries closer to the conflict.

Humanitarian crises around the world are not the only concern of governments. Singer asks each of us individually to gradually increase the amount we give to charity each year (he donated 40% of his salary last year). Similarly, he believes we all have a moral responsibility to avoid eating meat products or, at the very least, to avoid eating animals raised on factory farms.

Similarly, on the issue of animal rights, Singer has reasons for optimism. He says, "Over the past 15 years in Europe, laws have been enacted that have effectively changed the legal way animals are kept on factory farms." "When I started thinking about animals in the early seventies, people laughed at me and said you will never be able to make a change, you are taking on a very large industry. But in reality, the animal rights movement changed that."

And as one of the leading figures in the animal rights movement, Singer has been a major force behind these changes. Given Singer's positive impacts and achievements throughout his life, it is not difficult to understand his optimistic insistence that we will continue to grow and improve in the future. It is true that many tragic events occur today, but Singer says from a historical and global perspective, "we can easily magnify certain matters."

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The philosopher Peter Singer, who regularly tops lists of the most influential people worldwide, is known for his controversial, yet highly convincing, utilitarian outlook. Utilitarian ethicists believe that the consequences of an action determine whether or not it’s moral. Grounded in this discipline, Singer has argued, among other things, that:

• Failing to donate excess wealth to those in need is morally equivalent to walking past a fallen child in a pond and allowing them to drown.
• It’s acceptable to kill newborn babies with severe disabilities.
• Bestiality that involves cruelty to animals is immoral, but perfectly ok where it involves “mutually satisfying activities.”
• Refusing to treat animal rights as morally significant to human rights is “speciesism.”

Singer has been hugely influential in shaping the effective altruismmovement, which advocates donating 10% of your salary to specific charities that have significant practical impact. He’s also had a major impact in debates around factory farming, veganism, and climate change. He’s recently published a book, Ethics in the Real World, which consists of 82 brief essays written for a non-academic audience. The essays cover whether people who weigh more should pay more on planes, whether adult incest should be illegal, and why donating tobatkid was a poor use of money.

Singer is a realist who grapples with some of the most challenging questions facing humanity. He’s also very much an optimist. Though he says political discourse in the US has reached “a new low,” Brexit was a disappointing win for xenophobia, and far-right governments have growing influence, Singer simply doesn’t believe that we’re in a worse situation today than 10, 20, or 40 years ago.

“I’ve always had a reasonably optimistic view of where we’re going, and I’ve tended to look at the positive, in terms of progress that we’re making,” he says. “Globally, the world’s in a much better situation than it’s been in past periods, despite the headlines on the war in Syria and other places where bad things are happening. There have been fewer people killed in wars, or genocides, or other forms of violence in the last decade or two than there have been in any other decade. We ought to take consolation in that.”

And while the current refugee crisis is the worst since the Second World War, Singer points out that the tens of millions of people currently displaced worldwide are outweighed by the hundreds of millions who have been lifted out of extreme poverty over the past 50 years. On balance, he says, the world is getting better.

That’s not to say he’s unconcerned about the current refugee crisis. But Singer suggests that there may now be more refugees in part because it’s become easier to flee disaster and, in previous decades “those who were not displaced were suffering more by staying put.” Though the civil war in Syria is an undeniably terrible humanitarian crisis, Singer says it should not obscure the fact that the world is slowly improving overall.

This doesn’t absolve us of our moral responsibility, of course. Singer believes we have as much of a duty to those overseas as we do to those within our own country. But he recognizes that xenophobia is prevalent, including on the left (he’s disappointed, he adds, that Bernie Sanders “appealed in a somewhat similar way to Trump” to concerns that American jobs are going overseas). And so, given that accepting large numbers of refugees tends to result in surges in harmful far-right sentiment, Singer believes that the most practical solution is to fund the largest refugee camps in less-affluent nations closest to the conflict.

The humanitarian crises worldwide are not only a concern for governments. Singer calls on individuals to gradually increase the amount they give to charity every year (he donated 40% of his salary last year). Similarly, he believes everyone has a moral responsibility to avoid eating meat products or, at the very least, factory-farmed animals.

On the animal rights cause, too, Singer sees reasons for optimism. “Over the last 15 years or so, there’s been legislation that’s really changed the way animals can legally be kept in factory farms in Europe,” he says. “When I started out thinking about animals in the early 1970s, people laughed and said you’ll never change that, you’re trying to fight a huge industry. But actually the animal movement has changed it.”

And, as a leading figure in the animal rights movement, Singer has been a major force behind that change. Given the positive effects Singer’s achieved throughout his own life, it’s not hard to understand his optimistic insistence that we’ll continue to grow and improve in the future. True, there are many tragic events unfolding today, but from a global historical perspective, says Singer, “we can easily get things out of proportion.”

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The Most Influential Living Moral Philosopher Says the World Is Becoming a Better Place

Translator: Ali Mosharrafzadeh

Source: qz.com

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