ORCID Profile
0000-0003-3741-4314
Current Organisations
Princeton University
,
University of Melbourne
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Publications
Correction: AI ethics: the case for including animals
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-11-2022
Parfit on Act Consequentialism
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 18-05-2020
DOI: 10.1017/S0953820820000126
Abstract: In the first two volumes of On What Matters , Derek Parfit argues that three major normative theories – Kantianism, Contractualism and Rule Consequentialism – are, in their most defensible forms, compatible, and can be reconciled in what he calls ‘Triple Theory’. This has led many to assume that Parfit does not believe that Act Consequentialism is a defensible form of Consequentialism. We draw on correspondence with Parfit to show that this assumption is incorrect. We then consider Parfit's efforts, in the third volume of On What Matters , to narrow the differences between Act Consequentialism and the triple theory, in part by treating impartial rationality as an external rival to morality, in much the same way that egoism is an external rival to morality. We argue that Parfit's attempts to bridge the gap between Act Consequentialism and Triple Theory meet with only limited success.
AI ethics: the case for including animals
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-07-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S43681-022-00187-Z
Abstract: The ethics of artificial intelligence, or AI ethics, is a rapidly growing field, and rightly so. While the range of issues and groups of stakeholders concerned by the field of AI ethics is expanding, with speculation about whether it extends even to the machines themselves, there is a group of sentient beings who are also affected by AI, but are rarely mentioned within the field of AI ethics—the nonhuman animals. This paper seeks to explore the kinds of impact AI has on nonhuman animals, the severity of these impacts, and their moral implications. We hope that this paper will facilitate the development of a new field of philosophical and technical research regarding the impacts of AI on animals, namely, the ethics of AI as it affects nonhuman animals.
“We Need to Think of Future Generations and of Non-human Animals” An Interview with Peter Singer, Australian Philosopher, World-Famous Animal Ethicist
Publisher: University of Silesia in Katowice
Date: 15-11-2022
DOI: 10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA.2022.10.03
Abstract: Interview with Peter Singer, Australian philosopher, world-famous animal ethicist
Comparing the effect of rational and emotional appeals on donation behavior
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 05-2020
DOI: 10.1017/S1930297500007208
Abstract: We present evidence from a pre-registered experiment indicating that a philosophical argument – a type of rational appeal – can persuade people to make charitable donations. The rational appeal we used follows Singer’s “shallow pond” argument (1972), while incorporating an evolutionary debunking argument (Paxton, Ungar and Greene, 2012) against favoring nearby victims over distant ones. The effectiveness of this rational appeal did not differ significantly from that of a well-tested emotional appeal involving an image of a single child in need (Small, Loewenstein and Slovic, 2007). This is a surprising result, given evidence that emotions are the primary drivers of moral action, a view that has been very influential in the work of development organizations. We found no support for our hypothesis that combining our rational and emotional appeals would have a stronger effect than either appeal in isolation. However, our finding that both kinds of appeal can increase charitable donations is cause for optimism, especially concerning the potential efficacy of well-designed rational appeals. We consider the significance of these findings for moral psychology, ethics, and the work of organizations aiming to alleviate severe poverty.
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
No related grants have been discovered for Peter Singer.