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Comments on the Ethical Theory of Edgar A. Singer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Elizabeth Flower*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania

Extract

“We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we get wise; for a well packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell.” These lines from James Stephens’ Irish Fairy Tales are an appropriate introduction, for Singer takes the question, ‘How shall I live if I would have of life the best it has to offer?’ as the departure for his ethics, or perhaps it would be fairer to say, for his reflections on ethical matters. This brief essay is expository and interpretive rather than critical and brings together material from various essays, particularly “Progress,” “On The Contented Life,” and “Old Ways and New Beginnings of Science and of Morals.”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1954

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References

1. Singer, E. A., “On the Contented Life,” On the Contented Life, New York, 1923, p. 123.Google Scholar
2. Singer, E. A., “Progress,” Modern Thinkers and Present Problems, New York, 1923, p. 257.Google Scholar
3. Singer, E. A., “Progress,” Modern Thinkers and Present Problems, New York, 1923, p. 279.Google Scholar