#so

We write not only for children but also for their parents. They, too, are serious children. ↗

— Isaac Bashevis Singer

#children #only #parents #serious #their

At the descriptive level, certainly, you would expect different cultures to develop different sorts of ethics and obviously they have; that doesn't mean that you can't think of overarching ethical principles you would want people to follow in all kinds of places. ↗

— Peter Singer

#cultures #descriptive #develop #different #different cultures

I don't think there's much point in bemoaning the state of the world unless there's some way you can think of to improve it. Otherwise, don't bother writing a book; go and find a tropical island and lie in the sun. ↗

— Peter Singer

#bother #find #go #i #improve

I would like us to think about it more explicitly, and not take our intuitions as the given of ethics, but rather to reflect on it, and be more open about the fact that something is an ethical issues and think what we ought to do about it. ↗

— Peter Singer

#ethical #ethics #explicitly #fact #given

I'm not overly alarmist about it, but I do think there are some worrying signs, like the growing accumulation of wealth by a very small proportion of the population, plus elections in the US are much more dominated by money than anywhere else calling itself a democracy. ↗

— Peter Singer

#anywhere #calling #democracy #dominated #elections

Dolphins are social mammals, capable of enjoying their lives. They form close bonds with other members of their group. ↗

— Peter Singer

#capable #close #dolphins #enjoying #form

For example, one way of giving yourself a strong incentive to reach your goal is to commit to pay money to someone if you fail. Better yet, you can specify that you will have to pay a certain sum to a cause that you detest. ↗

— Peter Singer

#cause #certain #commit #detest #example

Knowledge is generally considered a good thing; so, presumably, knowing more about how the U.S. thinks and operates around the world is also good. ↗

— Peter Singer

#about #also #around #considered #generally

I honestly don't know, but if America continues to refuse to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, I see a bleak future not only for American society, but for the world as a whole. This is a global problem that is not going away, and the United States is an obstacle to solving it. ↗

— Peter Singer

#american #american society #away #bleak #continues

I suppose what's happened recently has confirmed suspicions I voiced in the book, and I think made clearer some of those things that I point out. For instance I have a section of the book where I talk about the possibility of torture. ↗

— Peter Singer

#book #clearer #confirmed #happened #i