The Expanding Circle Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress
by Peter Singer
What is ethics? Where do moral standards come from? Are they based on emotions, reason, or some innate sense of right and wrong? For many scientists, the key lies entirely in biology--especially in Darwinian theories of evolution and self-preservation. But if evolution is a struggle for survival, why are we still capable of altruism?
In his classic study The Expanding Circle, Peter Singer argues that altruism began as a genetically based drive to protect one's kin and community members but has developed into a consciously chosen ethic with an expanding circle of moral concern. Drawing on philosophy and evolutionary psychology, he demonstrates that human ethics cannot be explained by biology alone. Rather, it is our capacity for reasoning that makes moral progress possible. In a new afterword, Singer takes stock of his argument in light of recent research on the evolution of morality.
PhilosophyEthics & Moral PhilosophyScienceLife SciencesEvolutionPhilosophy & Social Aspects
RELEASED2011
PUBLISHERPrinceton University Press
LENGTH232
LANGUAGEEN
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Peter Albert David Singer AC (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher and the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specializes in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, utilitarian perspective. He is known in particular for his book Animal Liberation (1975), in which he argues in favor of veganism, and his essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality", in which he argues in favor of donating to help the global poor.
The Expanding Circle Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress
by Peter Singer
What is ethics? Where do moral standards come from? Are they based on emotions, reason, or some innate sense of right and wrong? For many scientists, the key lies entirely in biology--especially in Darwinian theories of evolution and self-preservation. But if evolution is a struggle for survival, why are we still capable of altruism?
In his classic study The Expanding Circle, Peter Singer argues that altruism began as a genetically based drive to protect one's kin and community members but has developed into a consciously chosen ethic with an expanding circle of moral concern. Drawing on philosophy and evolutionary psychology, he demonstrates that human ethics cannot be explained by biology alone. Rather, it is our capacity for reasoning that makes moral progress possible. In a new afterword, Singer takes stock of his argument in light of recent research on the evolution of morality.
PhilosophyEthics & Moral PhilosophyScienceLife SciencesEvolutionPhilosophy & Social Aspects
RELEASED2011
PUBLISHERPrinceton University Press
LENGTH232
LANGUAGEEN
Peter Albert David Singer AC (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher and the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specializes in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, utilitarian perspective. He is known in particular for his book Animal Liberation (1975), in which he argues in favor of veganism, and his essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality", in which he argues in favor of donating to help the global poor.
