Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Ethics in the Real World (Peter Singer)

Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter is a collection of opinion columns and short essays written by Peter Singer, a professor at Princeton University.  The book bridges a wide array of topics, fusing the classical realm of philosophy and logic with the modern perspective, where philosophy acts to advocate for values and takes positions on social, political, and economic issues.

Singer brings wide-ranging and not always politically mainstream thoughts to issues that range from romance to sport, money to animal rights.  His thoughts can be challenging to more conservative points of view, and they are expressed in more of a structured opinion-editorial way as opposed to a research-intensive method.  Some footnotes and reference bullets are incorporated at points when the author cites another writer's work.

Ethics in the Real World is a relatively quick read given the wide range of topics that are covered; every essay is less than six pages in length.  You may not agree with what is articulated and you may find offense at some of Singer's points, but credit should certainly be given at the wide scope of topics and depth of thought that he has taken.  


MY RATING - 4