Peter Singer, who is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, came to Bakersfield a year or so before we left (fled?) for Oregon. It was the only philosophy lecture, I think, that was held in the university's basketball court because there was no other indoor venue on campus at that time that could accommodate many hundreds.
I know what you are thinking: hundreds of people in Bakersfield interested in a philosopher talk about bioethics? Well, a great number came there because of Singer's controversial positions on human and animal life, and, most importantly, on euthanasia. In fact, it was quite a tense situation, with many, many, police officers on duty and ready to arrest people if they needed to.
Singer reviews Dale Jameison's book, Ethics and the Environment, and writes quite appreciatively of the book. Singer notes that
[Jamieson] sees himself as bringing together two complex bodies of thought, each liable to their own confusions, and each, in the end, benefiting from being considered together. Environmental problems should not be seen as purely technological, nor purely economic. They are also ethical, and we understand them better by appreciating all their dimensions. Equally, however, Jamieson contends that our moral and political conceptions are challenged by the environmental problems we face. They need to adapt to a wider range of values, and a scale, both geographical and temporal, that extends far beyond that of most ethical and political issues. ....
.... The material covered in the chapters on ethics is essential to a proper understanding of ethics and the environment, and the chapter on animals is a clear and concise account of that very relevant topic. Add those elements to the illuminating discussion of the value of nature, and the result is a book that can be recommended with confidence to anyone interested in learning about ethics, the environment and the interaction between them.
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