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Peter Singer's argument for utilitarianism.

Stephen Buckle
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Abstract

The paper begins by situating Singer within the British meta-ethical tradition. It sets out the main steps in his argument for utilitarianism as the 'default setting' of ethical thought. It argues that Singer's argument depends on a hierarchy of reasons, such that the ethical viewpoint is understood to be an adaptation--an extension--of a fundamental self-interest. It concludes that the argument fails because it is impossible to get from this starting-point in self-interest to his conception of the ethical point of view. The fundamental problem is its mixing the immiscible: the Humean subordination of reason to interest with the Kantian conception of reason as universal and authoritative.

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AustraliaEthical TheoryHistory, 20th CenturyHistory, 21st CenturyHumansMoral ObligationsMoralsSocial ResponsibilityBioethics and Professional EthicsPhilosophical ApproachBiographyHistorical ArticleJournal Article

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Stephen Buckle. 2005. Peter Singer's argument for utilitarianism.. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-005-3976-x

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