Peter Singer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peter Singer - Essay Example His moral and ethical perception may be off t from those with tender sensibilities but when you look at his doctrines at a bigger picture, Singer’s dogma may be quite rational, though not entirely popular. Singer views euthanasia as valid and acceptable provided that the reason for committing the act is to eliminate pain and suffering, as those in people who have undergone traumatic events that may render them incapacitated and invalid. He further categorized euthanasia as either voluntary, involuntary, and non- voluntary. To Singer, voluntary euthanasia is assisting in the termination of one’s life, if that person willingly consented and expressed his desire to end his life. Involuntary euthanasia on the other hand is ending one’s life without getting consent but the person concerned may have hinted the desire to end his life. Non- voluntary euthanasia is the act of ending one’s life, without that person’s consent, because that person is not deem capable of making a decision, as when the person do not possess the mental faculty and consciousness to make a decision for himself. Abortion, to Singer, is morally acceptable. Singer defines the act as terminating a conceived human being inside the woman’s womb, in the premise that that child itself has not yet lived a human life, has no consciousness, and has no capacity to feel and live as a human being, unlike those that have already been born. Singer reiterates that to be classified as a viable human being, one must be capable of cognition and autonomy. It is with this belief that he concludes that abortion, through his utilitarian view, becomes permissible, if opted by the mother. The controversial philosopher believes that infanticide, the act of killing an innocent child, is allowed, in the instance that that child will be unable to live a normal, rational, and meaningful life. This is in the case wherein the child is born with malformations and congenital anomalies that would later