A Wisdom Archive on Peter Singer - Abortion euthanasia and infanticide

Animal Liberation (originally published in 1975, second edition 1990, third edition 2002) was a major formative influence on the modern animal rights movement. Although Singer rejects rights as a moral ideal independent from his utilitarianism based on interests, he accepts rights as derived from utilitarian principles, particularly the principle of minimizing suffering. (Compare his fellow utilitarian John Stuart Mill, whose defense of the rights of the individual in On Liberty is introduced with the qualification, "It is proper to s ...

Read more here: » Peter Singer: Encyclopedia II - Peter Singer - Animal liberation

His most comprehensive work, Practical Ethics (1979, second edition 1993), analyses in detail why and how beings' interests should be weighed. His principle of equality encompasses all beings with interests, and it requires equal consideration of those interests, whatever the species. The principle of equal consideration of interests does not dictate equal treatment of all those with interests, since different interests warrant different treatment. All have an interest in avoiding pain, for instance, but relatively few have an interes ...

Read more here: » Peter Singer: Encyclopedia II - Peter Singer - Applied ethics

Joseph Fletcher, founder of situational ethics and a euthanasia proponent, proposed that infanticide be permitted in cases of severe birth defects. He and philosopher Peter Singer have suggested that it is a logical extension of abortion. In the Netherlands, euthanasia remains technically illegal for patients under the age of 12. However, Dr. Eduard Verhagen has documented several cases of infant euthanasia. Together with colleagues and prosecutors, he has developed a protocol to be followed in those cases. Prosecutors will refrain from pressing charg ...

Read more here: » Infanticide: Encyclopedia II - Infanticide - Infant euthanasia

The philosopher Peter Singer holds that the right to life is grounded in the ability to plan and anticipate one's future. This extends the concept to animals, such as apes, but since the unborn, infants and severely disabled people lack this, he states that abortion, painless infanticide and euthanasia can be "justified" (but are not obligatory) in certain special circumstances, for instance in the case of severely disabled infants whose life would cause suffering both to themselves and to their parents. Many people with a pro-life viewpoint ...

Read more here: » Right to life: Encyclopedia II - Right to life - Opposing viewpoints

Infanticide was common in all well-studied ancient cultures, including those of ancient Greece, Rome, India, China, and Japan. The practice of infanticide has taken many forms. Child sacrifice to supernatural figures or forces, such as that allegedly practiced in ancient Carthage, is one form; however, many societies only practiced simple infanticide and regarded child sacrifice as morally repugnant. The end of the practice of infanticide in the western world coincided with the rise of Christianity as a major religion. The practice was never ...

Read more here: » Infanticide: Encyclopedia II - Infanticide - Infanticide in history

Many historians believe the reason to be primarily economic, with more children born into families than the family is prepared to support. However, this does not explain why infanticide would occur equally among rich and poor, nor why it would be as frequent during decadent periods of the Roman Empire as during earlier, less affluent, periods. A letter from a Roman citizen to his wife, dating from 1 BC, describes the casual nature with which infanticide was often viewed: "Know that I am still in Alexandria. [...] I ask an ...

Read more here: » Infanticide: Encyclopedia II - Infanticide - Explanations for the practice

Main article: Evolutionary theory and the political left Some on political left, especially Marxists and communists have been critical of aspects of the theory evolution by natural selection (Darwinism). Some of this opposition appears for ideological reasons; the concepts of "survival of the fittest", and "nature red in tooth and claw" appear not to fit with economic or social ideals. Conversely, the advancement inherent in Lamar ...

Read more here: » Social implications of the theory of evolution: Encyclopedia II - Social implications of the theory of evolution - Evolutionary theory and the political left

Main article: Evolutionary theory and the political left Some on political left, especially Marxists and communists have been critical of aspects of the theory evolution by natural selection (Darwinism). Some of this opposition appears for ideological reasons; the concepts of "survival of the fittest", and "nature red in tooth and claw" appear not to fit with economic or social ideals. Conversely, the advancement inherent in Lamarckism did. ...

Read more here: » Social effect of evolutionary theory: Encyclopedia II - Social effect of evolutionary theory - Evolutionary theory and the political left

The theory of evolution by natural selection has also been adopted as a foundation for various ethical and social systems, such as social Darwinism, an idea popular in the 19th century which holds that "the survival of the fittest" explains and justifies differences in wealth and success among societies and people. A similar interpretation was one created by Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton, known as eugenics, which claimed that human civilization was subverting natural selection by allowing the "less fit" to survive and "out-breed" the "more ...

Read more here: » Social effect of evolutionary theory: Encyclopedia II - Social effect of evolutionary theory - Evolution and ethics