God, the Good, and Utilitarianism: Perspectives on Peter Singer

234 Pages·2014·1.51 MB·English

by  John Perry

GOD, THE GOOD,
AND UTILITARIANISM
Is ethics about happiness? Aristotle thought so and for centuries
Christians agreed, until utilitarianism raised worries about where this
would lead. In this volume, Peter Singer, leading utilitarian
philosopher and controversial defender of infanticide and euthanasia,
addresses this question in conversation with Christian ethicists and
secularutilitarians.Theirengagementrevealssurprisingpointsofagree-
mentanddifferenceonquestionsofmoraltheory,thehistoryofethics,
andcurrentissuessuchasclimatechange,abortion,povertyandanimal
rights. The volume explores the advantages and pitfalls of basing
morality on happiness; if ethics is teleological, is its proper aim the
subjectivesatisfactionofpreferences?Orishumanflourishingfoundin
objective goods: friendship, intellectual curiosity, meaningful labour?
ThisvolumeprovidesatimelyreviewofhowutilitariansandChristians
conceive of the good, and will be of great interest to those studying
religiousethics,philosophyofreligion,andappliedethics.
john perry is Lecturer in Theological Ethics at the University of
St Andrews, and formerly McDonald Fellow for Christian Ethics
& Public Life at the University of Oxford. He is the author of The
PretensesofLoyalty(2011).

GOD, THE GOOD,
AND UTILITARIANISM
Perspectives on Peter Singer
edited by
JOHN PERRY
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107050754
©CambridgeUniversityPress,2014
Chapter2‘EngagingwithChristianity’©PeterSinger,2014
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Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
God,thegood,andutilitarianism:perspectivesonPeterSinger/editedbyJohnPerry.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-05075-4
1. Singer,Peter,1946– 2. Utilitarianism. 3. Goodandevil. 4. Christian
ethics. I. Perry,John,1976–editorofcompilation.
b5704.s554g63 2013
1710.5–dc23
2013032792
isbn978-1-107-05075-4Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
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It is a special object of the present work to avoid all hasty and
premature reconciliations, and to exhibit fairly the divergence of
thedifferentmethodswithoutextenuationorexaggeration.
HenrySidgwick,TheMethodsofEthics

Contents
Contributors page ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
JohnPerry
part i framing the debate 13
1 Wheredidutilitarianismcomefrom? 15
JohnPerry
2 EngagingwithChristianity 53
PeterSinger
3 EngagingwithPeterSinger 68
CharlesC.Camosy
part ii theoretical issues 91
4 Morality,happiness,andPeterSinger 93
JohnHare
5 Moralreason,communitybelonging,andglobaljustice 104
LisaSowleCahill
6 Actsorrules?Thefine-tuningofutilitarianism 125
BradHooker
vii
viii Contents
part iii practical issues 139
7 Whatisgoodforthedistantfuture?Thechallengeof
climatechangeforutilitarianism 141
TimMulgan
8 Howtorespectotheranimals:lessonsfortheologyfrom
PeterSingerandviceversa 160
DavidClough
9 Globalpovertyandthedemandsofmorality 177
TobyOrd
10 Rememberthepoor:duties,dilemmas,andvocation 192
EricGregory
Bibliography 209
Index 219