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Ethics in the Real World
- 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter
- Narrated by: James Saunders
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
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Ethics in the Real World
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Publisher's Summary
Peter Singer is often described as the world's most influential philosopher. He is also one of its most controversial. The author of important books such as Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, Rethinking Life and Death, and The Life You Can Save, he helped launch the animal rights and effective altruism movements and contributed to the development of bioethics.
Now, in Ethics in the Real World, Singer shows that he is also a master at dissecting important current events in a few hundred words.
In this book of brief essays, he applies his controversial ways of thinking to issues like climate change, extreme poverty, animals, abortion, euthanasia, human genetic selection, sports doping, the sale of kidneys, the ethics of high-priced art, and ways of increasing happiness. Singer asks whether chimpanzees are people, smoking should be outlawed, or consensual sex between adult siblings should be decriminalized, and he reiterates his case against the idea that all human life is sacred, applying his arguments to some recent cases in the news.
In addition, he explores, in an easily accessible form, some of the deepest philosophical questions, such as whether anything really matters and what is the value of the pale blue dot that is our planet. The collection also includes some more personal reflections, like Singer's thoughts on one of his favourite activities, surfing, and an unusual suggestion for starting a family conversation over a holiday feast.
Provocative and original, these essays will challenge - and possibly change - your beliefs about a wide range of real-world ethical questions.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Tim
- 26-07-2020
Lots to think about
Lots of good food for thought. I tended to only listen to one or two at a time, as the ideas Singer introduced were often quite hefty and needed some processing time.
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- Anonymous User
- 14-12-2023
thinking outside of yourself-a shared world
Really enjoyed the variety of critical thinking topics allowing me to consider my views along the way. listening in 2023 and to an older book was interesting to appreciate ideas that were perhaps new at time of publishing are now progressed and some have come to fruition. Peter Singer is a fabulous example that progressive thinking such as not eating animals, ethical consideration, religion does not equal morality, is not age/generationally based, we all have capacity to think outside of ourselves, after all this planet is shared and kindness matters. Well worth the read or listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 08-02-2022
Brilliant book
Peter Singer's work is spectacular. This book has given me many things to reflect upon.
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- Phil D.
- 11-03-2022
In my top 5 books of all time
As my first foray into educating myself on ethics this book was unbelievably well put together, written and read. It covers a sweeping range of topics each contained within short essays meaning it can be digested very easily. I recommend this book to absolutely anyone, no book I have read has had me thinking quite this much. I look forward to reading and listening to more Peter Singer books in the near future.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Sam
- 05-02-2018
A good overview of Singer's views
A very accessible and well narrated overview of Singer's views on a wide range of ethical issues, from poverty alleviation and climate change to bioethics and privacy. This collection sacrifices depth in favour of breadth, drawing on a range of short essays that Singer has written for publications over the years.
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- calorie counter
- 26-05-2018
Very good overview of Singer's philosophy
82 Essays, articles, columns, and opinion pieces by Singer from various different publications, over 2 decades and on a long list of different subjects. Singer discusses the ethical aspects of, e.g., vegetarianissm and animal rights,, abortion, health, euthanasia, public policy, environment, science, feminism, and many other topics. If you want to get a broad insight into Singer's philosophy, this book is for you. Each article is short, good to read and expertly narrated.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-12-2021
Thought provoking
Thought provoking but what a massive hypocrite at chapter 21 he is on abortion. Definitely not more than a fashionable thinker of the times
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- John Brisbin
- 24-06-2018
Excellent Ethic-snacks for further reflections
Singer is a polished and effective communicator with a prodigious talent for bringing big issues down to bite-size dimensions.
The 82 essay format is because these are all re-prints of short (1000 word?) articles that have appeared in the various channels that publish Singer as a "columnist".
I found these to be great introductions to big issues...plenty to think about and a seduction to think more deeply!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Saeed
- 29-04-2021
Insightful, thought-provoking, and rigorous
I pretty much enjoyed each and every essay, and never got bored! I'll revisit this book in the future every now and again as I think it is worth being listened perhaps more than twice! I recently came to know Prof. Peter Singer, and so far, I have enjoyed both his books that I have listened to on Audible (the other one is "The life you can save"). I hope more of his works will become available soon on Audible.
Also the narrator deserves a couple of sentences. His performance was so good and engaging that I looked through his profile to see what other books he has narrated that I can potentially find interesting to listen.
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- Doug Grubert
- 23-09-2023
So Much To Consider on So Many Issues
I’ve read other of Singer’s works and loved this audiobook. Rationale and evidence-based, I’m impressed at Singer’s ability to be persuasive by encouraging the reader (listener) to shift their thinking through intellectual leverage, not pushy dogmatism. It won’t be long before this climbs back up my ‘To Listen’ list so that I can reflect on these topics again.
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