Practical Ethics

{{Infobox book|

| name = Practical Ethics

| image = File:Practical Ethics, 1980 edition.jpg

| caption = Cover of the 1980 edition

| author = Peter Singer

| country = United States

| language = English

| subject = Ethics

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| release_date = 1979 (first edition)
1993 (second edition)
2011 (third edition)

| media_type = Print (hardcover and paperback)

| pages = 395 (second edition)

| isbn = 0-521-43971-X

| isbn_note = (second edition paperback)

}}

Practical Ethics, a 1979 book by the moral philosopher Peter Singer, is an introduction to applied ethics.

Summary

Singer analyzes, in detail, why and how beings' interests should be weighed. In his view, a being's interests should always be weighed according to that being's concrete properties, and not according to its belonging to some abstract group. Singer studies a number of ethical issues including race, sex, ability, species, abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, embryo experimentation, the moral status of animals, political violence, overseas aid, and whether we have an obligation to assist others. The 1993 second edition adds chapters on refugees, the environment, equality and disability, embryo experimentation, and the treatment of academics in Germany.{{cite web |url=http://www.philosophyblog.com.au/review-of-practical-ethics-by-peter-singer |title=Review of Practical Ethics by Peter Singer | date = 2006-09-20 |access-date=2009-05-22}}{{cite web |url=http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521439718 |title=Practical Ethics 2nd edition |access-date=2009-05-22}} A third edition published in 2011 omits the chapter on refugees, and contains a new chapter on climate change.{{cite web |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item5759355/Practical%20Ethics/?site_locale=en_US |title=Cambridge University Press |access-date=2011-03-17}}

Reception

Practical Ethics is widely read and was described as "an excellent text for an introductory ethics course" by the philosopher John Martin Fischer.{{cite journal | jstor=2184936| title=Practical Ethics by Peter Singer | author=Fischer, John Martin | journal=The Philosophical Review | year=1983 | volume=92 | issue=2 | pages=264–266| doi=10.2307/2184936 | s2cid=239298359 }} The philosopher James Rachels recommended the book "as an introduction centered on such practical issues as abortion, racism, and so forth."{{cite book | author=James Rachels | title=The Elements of Moral Philosophy, Fourth Edition | year=2003 | page=203}} The philosopher Mylan Engel called the book "must reading for anyone interested in living an ethical life."{{cite journal | title=Review of Practical Ethics, 3rd Edition by Peter Singer | author=Engel Jr., Mylan | journal=The American Journal of Bioethics | year=2011 | volume=11 | issue=12 | pages=73–75| doi=10.1080/15265161.2011.626728 | s2cid=57037141 }}

H. L. A. Hart's review of the first edition in The New York Review of Books was mixed. While writing that "The utility of this utilitarian's book to students of its subject can hardly be exaggerated", Hart also criticized Practical Ethics for philosophical inconsistency in its chapter on abortion. He argues that Singer insufficiently explains how preference and classical utilitarianism each view abortion, and does not bring out their differences.{{Cite news |last=Hart |first=H.L.A. |date=15 May 1980 |title=Death and Utility |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1980/05/15/death-and-utility/ |access-date=19 April 2021 |work=The New York Review of Books}} Singer replies to Hart's review in The New York Review of Books (14 August 1980)[https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1980/08/14/right-to-life/].

Practical Ethics

Summary

Reception

References

Further reading