Modern Times, Murky Issues.(Ecco Press's 'Writings on an Ethical Life')

Ecco Press pushes the bioethics debate with a philosopher's views spanning 30 years

Peter Singer's ideas spark strong reactions. He made his name in 1980 with the publication of Animal Liberation, a book that has since sold more than 500,000 copies and established him as the father of the modern animal rights movement His advocacy for animal rights, however, went well beyond the call to end unnecessary suffering of animals and questioned a "speciesist" culture that values the sanctity of human life over all others. Singer has said that a redistribution of the capital invested in the harvesting of animals for food could end world hunger. He advocates that it is wrong for the affluent not to give a portion of their earnings to help the poor; he donates 20% of his income to famine-relief organizations.

But it is his work in the realm of bioethics involving humans-- particularly his support of euthanasia, not just for the elderly and the infirm hut for disabled infants-that really ignites passionate debate. Singer's supporters claim that critics condemn his views without understanding them. Now, hoping to set the record straight, this month HarperCollins' Ecco Press published Writings on an Ethical Life, a …