Ask the Author: Peter Singer
Answered Questions (4)
Peter Singer
Is capitalism unethical? Well, compared to what? As we are not all able to be self-sufficient, we need to have ways of producing and exchanging goods. Free-market systems seem to be more successful at encouraging the production of goods that people want than any other system we know about. At the same time, they do have enormous costs. They produce great inequality, and impose external costs on 3rd parties - ie, people who are not party to the transaction. Climate change is a result of that kind of external cost - the harm done to others by greenhouse gas emissions is not priced into the cost of the goods sold. For another example of the problems capitalism can cause, read Nicholas Kristof's column on Angola in today's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/opi...)
Despite the serious problems capitalism causes, I come back to the question: what are the alternative? Attempts to replace capitalism, on a large scale, have led to something even worse. There was just as much inequality in the USSR as there is in the USA today (maybe not in monetary terms, but in terms of power and privileges).
I'm waiting for someone to, first, describe a better system than capitalism, and second, set out a realistic path for getting from here to there. When that happens, it will be worth thinking harder about the ethical flaws in capitalism, Until then, as I argue in my new book, The Most Good You Can Do, there is a huge amount we can all do, within the current economic system, to make the world a much better place.
Despite the serious problems capitalism causes, I come back to the question: what are the alternative? Attempts to replace capitalism, on a large scale, have led to something even worse. There was just as much inequality in the USSR as there is in the USA today (maybe not in monetary terms, but in terms of power and privileges).
I'm waiting for someone to, first, describe a better system than capitalism, and second, set out a realistic path for getting from here to there. When that happens, it will be worth thinking harder about the ethical flaws in capitalism, Until then, as I argue in my new book, The Most Good You Can Do, there is a huge amount we can all do, within the current economic system, to make the world a much better place.
Peter Singer
Knowing that people are reading my books, and better still, that some of them are changing their lives because of them.
Peter Singer
I'm busy planning the publicity campaign for The Most Good You Can Do, and preparing for a tour to promote it in the US. But my next project is a revised and updated edition of One World, which has continued to sell well, but is now 12 years old and getting out of date.
Peter Singer
The most recent book I've completed is The Most Good You Can Do. It's not out yet, but will be published on April 7. The idea for it came from seeing the growth of the Effective Altruism movement, which I find really exciting. Effective altruists want to live altruistically, at least to a significant extent (they are not all saints) but they also want to make sure that what they do is effective. They want to do the most good they can, with the resources (time, money, etc) that they have available. They may want to reduce poverty, help animals, prevent catastrophes, etc. What seemed idealistic just a decade or so ago is now being lived out by a lot of people, and there is an online community discussing all the issues it raises.
It's a great example of philosophy being put into practice.
It's a great example of philosophy being put into practice.
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