Peter Singer explores the realms of animal cruelty and discusses the hypocritical attitude of many who believe themselves to be pro animal rights. I myself am an animal lover and vegetarian who thought she had heard it all but was amazed to read many of Singers' exposes. This book opened my eyes towards my then slightly hypocritical attitude towards animal rights. It is a must for anyone contemplating vegetarianism or simply exploring the world of animal cruelty. This truly shows how one person can make a difference despite adversity and struggle, a sensible and informative account of one mans' struggle against the disbelievers.
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Peter Singer explores the realms of animal cruelty and discusses the hypocritical attitude of many who believe themselves to be pro animal rights. I myself am an animal lover and vegetarian who thought she had heard it all but was amazed to read many of Singers' exposes. This book opened my eyes towards my then slightly hypocritical attitude towards animal rights. It is a must for anyone contemplating vegetarianism or simply exploring the world of animal cruelty. This truly shows how one person can make a difference despite adversity and struggle, a sensible and informative account of one mans' struggle against the disbelievers.
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Have to be honest, it's rare I'll even bother to write a book review but feel compelled to here. After being a veggie for 20 years, I'm toying with the idea of becoming a vegan. I'm not one for being preached at and most 'activists' irritate me beyond description. Also, I'm not one for overblown American in your face type writing, so I was a little apprehensive about buying this. I needn't have been. It's superb. Honest, humorous, non preachy and debunks many myths including several perpetuated by vegans themselves. The authors include links for further info and resources which adds to the value too. If you're considering becoming a vegan or even just flirting with the idea, buy this book.
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I'd lend my copy this book to anyone even vaguely interested in the subject. I can't really assess how sound the philosophy behind the ideas in this book is, because i don't really know it, but as an outline of the main animal rights theories, its impeccable. DeGrazia has written more academic works, but this is very straightforward and accessible, it certainly made me think about animals in a different way.
Criticism - its not impartial. The author quickly states his own perspective and views, and these always seem to get the most covereage. He appears to sometimes dismiss criticism of animal rights a bit too flippantly. But overall, this is a very readable and interesting book.
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The title of this book is most apt. Singer presents his view of ethics by considering practical situations that may present moral dilemmas. He arranges the chapters so as to provide progressive examples in which he puts forward a coherent, if in places controversial, approach to ethical behaviour. Chapter headings are:
1. About Ethics
2. Equality and its Implications
3. Equality for Animals?
4. What's Wrong with Killing?
5. Taking Life: Animals
6. Taking Life: The Embryo and the Fetus
7. Taking Life: Humans
8. Rich and Poor
9. Insiders and Outsiders
10. The Environment
11. Ends and Means
12. Why Act Morally?
Appendix: On Being Silenced in Germany
This was quite simply one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Apart from the fascinating subject discussed, the writing is superb. Although the book follows 3 American families, it could quite easily have followed 3 British families with no difficulty at all to the British reader - simply substitute Asda for Walmart etc. How the previous reviewer can say British readers will find it difficult to maintain interest is beyond me.
The book follows the eating habits of 3 very different American families. One is on a low wage and buys the cheapest food products available. The other two families have larger disposable incomes, one buys ethically and organically where possible, whilst the other is vegan. The books looks at the reasons for ... Read More:
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Another great book by Erik Marcus, this is a must read for anyone interested in animal rights. Erik examines the issues within the animal rights movement, as well as strategies for more effective work. A must-read.
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Very few people can be dispassionate about animal rights or the things done by organisations like the Animal Liberation Front. This book is not for you if you are looking for a polemic or for startling new arguments, but it does very well exactly what it sets out to do -- it introduces and summarises the existing debate in a balanced way. I hadn't read any books on animal rights before because I have mixed feelings about medical research and such-like so I assumed they would be depressing, but I'm glad I did read this book because it helped me to understand the arguments and to see where the debate currently stands. It is neither overly emotional nor dismissive of the emotional aspects of the debate, which seems to me the ideal middle ground.
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According to many Evolutionary Scientists, the human brain has evolved only to think, work and live in groups of 150 or so people. That's fine if we only live in such groups, but we don't. The evolution of technology has far surpassed anything our instinctive minds can keep up with, so much so that the world we know live in is rather different to what our natural instincts are good at dealing with.
The now interdependent and global world means that worldwide issues such as international trade, environment, ethics mean that we must think globally and universally to find global solutions. That's not an easy thing to do. Not only is it against natural instincts but the problems are of such a complex nature, that the sifting through of endless information ... Read More:
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For me, this book was preaching to the converted - I have a good understanding of evolution and can't see how any reasonable scientist could argue with the position spelled out by Dawkins in this book. However, I cannot agree at all that he is good at communicating these ideas - his writing and arguments are laboured, convoluted and actually rather confusing. In particular, the description of molecular genetics is awful and without extensive prior knowledge of this I would have to have read the (albeit limited - see below) coverage of this area many times over to understand it.
I personally found reading the author's smug or arrogant criticisms of others in his field or opponents amusing - perhaps others might not. The problem for the 'Blind Watchmaker' ... Read More:
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