The ‘Singer-Affair’ and Practical Ethics: A Response

Abstract: This response to the articles in this issue of ‘Analyse & Kritik’ begins with some general remarks on the ‘Singer-Affair’ in which I suggest that while the rational discussion of the ethical issue of euthanasia poses no threat of a return to Nazism, there is a real danger in the creation of a climate in which people are ready to use force to suppress ideas with which they disagree. I then state and criticise two popular theses about t he wrongness of killing: that there is a crucial moral distinction between an act and an omission, and that all human beings possess an intrinsic right to life that no nonhuman beings have. This serves as a background to the section that follows, in which I take up the detailed criticisms of my views made by Professors Lenzen, Birnbacher, J.C. Wolf and Hoerster.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: The ‘Singer-Affair’ and Practical Ethics: A Response ; volume:12 ; number:2 ; year:1990 ; pages:245-264 ; extent:20 ; Analyse & Kritik ; 12, Heft 2 (1990), 245-264 (gesamt 20)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Singer, Peter

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/auk-1990-0210
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2404171555052.001218147029
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:45 AM CEST