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Rating: 
Summary: Another great book by Peter Singer
Review: I am a great fan of Peter Singer and this book has further strengthened my respect for him. The book starts by examining the inconsistencies and weak ethical foundations of the "sanctity of human life" ethic. He provides numerous examples of situations that have occurred since the invention of the respirator in the 1950's where the application of this ethic has led to disastrous outcomes. He describes the many inconsistent and arbitrary "patches" that we have applied to shore up this ethic, concluding that a new ethical standard is needed. He proposes a new ethical framework based upon factors such as quality of life and how the decision to end a life will affect the interests of the individual, family members and society as a whole.
His arguments are clear and well supported and his writing style is lively and easy to read. This book is informative and provocative. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: It's refreshing to see an author tackle such topics
Review: Peter Singer is a modern philosopher that's not afraid to drive down some dark moral alleys. In this book, he tackles the topics of brain death, organ harvesting, abortion, infanticide, and animal rights. For the most part, he does a fantastic job of establishing a premise and then logically progressing to a conclusion that may leave our traditional ethics in shambles.Dr. Singer's arguments related to quality of life, the rights of a fetus, and examining "brain death" for what it really is were persuasive and effective I thought. When he got to discussing the rights of animals as they relate to humans, though, I thought he got a little sloppy. Instead of leading you from A to B to C as he did earlier, he kind of goes from A to C to F, and ignores that there may be a G. His "consciousness equation" that he applies to infants born with only a brain stem, adults in a persistent vegetative state, and gorillas as a case against "speciesism" seems inappropriate and ignores the sum potential of each species. In my opinion, invalid generalizations lead to untenable conclusions. This is not to say that I believe that animal testing is justifiable or that pro-life advocates that aren't vegans aren't hypocrites: my personal beliefs are beside the point. It just seems that Singer's past as a founder of the Australian Animal Rights Movement betray him a little bit here and reduces the effectiveness of the argument as a whole. It is, however, refreshing to see an author tackle such pregnant topics without fear.
Rating:
Summary: It's refreshing to see an author tackle such topics
Review: Peter Singer is a modern philosopher that's not afraid to drive down some dark moral alleys. In this book, he tackles the topics of brain death, organ harvesting, abortion, infanticide, and animal rights. For the most part, he does a fantastic job of establishing a premise and then logically progressing to a conclusion that may leave our traditional ethics in shambles. Dr. Singer's arguments related to quality of life, the rights of a fetus, and examining "brain death" for what it really is were persuasive and effective I thought. When he got to discussing the rights of animals as they relate to humans, though, I thought he got a little sloppy. Instead of leading you from A to B to C as he did earlier, he kind of goes from A to C to F, and ignores that there may be a G. His "consciousness equation" that he applies to infants born with only a brain stem, adults in a persistent vegetative state, and gorillas as a case against "speciesism" seems inappropriate and ignores the sum potential of each species. In my opinion, invalid generalizations lead to untenable conclusions. This is not to say that I believe that animal testing is justifiable or that pro-life advocates that aren't vegans aren't hypocrites: my personal beliefs are beside the point. It just seems that Singer's past as a founder of the Australian Animal Rights Movement betray him a little bit here and reduces the effectiveness of the argument as a whole. It is, however, refreshing to see an author tackle such pregnant topics without fear.
Rating:
Summary: an eye opener
Review: This book adresses some serious questions about human acceptance to the the putting to sleep of brain dead and other humans that have no capacity for life. The ethical considerations and implications are discussed and argued well. The extension to the abortion issue and where to draw the line (if any) between abortion and murder is discussed. as well as with regards to malformed foetus'. Well written
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: This book is both stunning and disturbing. It asks questions regarding our ethical stand on abortion, euthanasia, and the line we draw between life & death. Singer, as he did in Animal Liberation, forces us to ponder these thought provoking issues.
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: This book is both stunning and disturbing. It asks questions regarding our ethical stand on abortion, euthanasia, and the line we draw between life & death. Singer, as he did in Animal Liberation, forces us to ponder these thought provoking issues.
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