Singer is a unicorn among philosophers: capable of writing coherently AND staking and supporting moral claims. There's really no else who can touch on topics like sex scandals and cheating in sports with the some analytical rigour and context as Singer does for his more notable work on the ethical treatment of animals.

You don't have to agree with his positions--meat, yum!--to appreciate that Singer's popular essays are the sort of thoughtful and contrarian writing that's ultimately worth your time compared to the partisan polemics or vacuous TED talks that usually stunt these topics. ( )

86 opinion columns on politics by a smug vegan. Too short to carry any meaningful arguments. Many repeat themselves since they were written for different outlets. Lazy. ( )

Didn't always agree, but I appreciated that it was clear and concise and above all thoughtful ( )

Australian Peter Singer is one of my favourite philosophers because he writes about everyday issues that thoughtful citizens need to think about clearly. I’ve reviewed a couple of his books about philanthropy (The Most Good You Can Do, and The Life You Can Save) but this latest title Ethics in the Real World is different because it ranges widely over a variety of topics and as the sub-title says, it’s 86 Brief Essays on Things That Matter. The 82 essays are short pieces of less than 1000 words written for newspapers or from Singer’s monthly column for Project Syndicate, a news service for media outlets in countries around the world. As such, the essays resemble opinion pieces, and I didn’t find them as satisfying as his other books which offer a sustained and reasoned argument supporting his points of view. It’s a book best dipped into on and off IMO.

The topics are arranged under headings which are self-explanatory:
•Big Questions
•Animals
•Beyond the Ethics of the Sanctity of Life
•Bioethics and Public Health
•Sex and Gender
•Doing Good
•Happiness
•Politics
•Global Governance
•Science and Technology, and
•Living Playing Working

Singer is best known for his controversial views on animal liberation, on medical treatment for very premature babies and on euthanasia, but these pieces show that he can also present confronting arguments about other issues.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/10/01/ethics-in-the-real-world-by-peter-singer/ ( )