infanticide<\/a>, and abortion are not merely permissible in certain circumstances, but morally obligatory, have become prominent in both philosophical literature and the media. The author of over twenty books, Singer has a reputation for being rigorous and rational\u2014he appears to be a true creature of logic.<\/p>\nHowever in the late 1990s, Singer\u2019s mother, Cora, once an intellectually active and vibrant woman, became ill with Alzheimer\u2019s disease before dying in August 2000. She no longer recognized him, his sister, or any of her grandchildren. As a member of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, Cora had always said that she did not want to live if she was not physically and mentally capable. Despite Singer\u2019s intellectual belief in euthanasia, he could never kill his mother. So when she became too ill to live alone, Singer and his sister hired a team of home healthcare aides to look after her at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars per year.<\/p>\n
Singer did what many people would do for their parents. His actions were normal and humane, but they were utterly inconsistent with Singer\u2019s utilitarian ethic. His mother had lost her ability to reason, to remember, and to recognize others; she had \u201cceased to be a person in her son\u2019s technical sense of the term.\u201d Singer\u2019s philosophical principles meant that he ought to have given the money that he spent on his mother\u2019s care to the poor. When asked to justify his actions, he replied that it was \u201cprobably not the best use you could make of my money. That is true. But, it does provide employment for a number of people who find something worthwhile in what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, this fancy footwork does not obscure the fact that, on Singer\u2019s own terms, his actions were self-interest, not charity. Furthermore, they clash with his contention that, to maximize human utility, friends and family ought to be treated no differently than strangers. His honesty emerges when pressed on the matter: \u201cI think this has made me see how the issues of someone with these kinds of problems are really very difficult . . . Perhaps it is more difficult than I thought before, because it is different when it\u2019s your mother.\u201d Later, he admitted that, had he been the only one making the decision, he would have likely withheld the treatment; but, because his sister and other family members were involved, compassion and prolonged life prevailed.\u201d<\/p>\n
*********************<\/p>\n
Stories like this illuminate the importance of practicing what one preaches.\u00a0 If one\u2019s behavior undermines one\u2019s worldview, this causes serious legitimacy problems for one\u2019s worldview.\u00a0 As Christians, we need to remember this, and back up our beliefs with our lives.\u00a0 If we say that Christ is all, for example, but spend our time and energy pursuing things of this world, will unbelievers listen to us when we preach the world-denying gospel?<\/p>\n
If not, can we blame them?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the Kairos Journal, exceptional commentary on how over ten years ago, Princeton ethicist Peter Singer acted against his own moral philosophy: \u201cIn 1998 amid much furor, Singer was appointed Professor of Bioethics at Princeton\u2019s Center for Human Values. His controversial views on animal liberation and biomedical ethics, particularly his argument that euthanasia, infanticide, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[1209,13185,2315,2383],"class_list":["post-1756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","tag-euthanasia","tag-kairos-journal","tag-peter-singer","tag-princeton-university"],"yoast_head":"\n
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