Tacitus links to this essay on Peter Singer, by disability activist (and disabled person) Harriet McBryde Johnson. Peter Singer is famous for saying that babies with disabilities should be killed (I can't remember the proper mealy-mouthed academic term at this hour), and in general seems to be a good old-fashioned eugenicist. Some of the commenters in Tacitus' post seem to be missing something about the man, though, having gotten themselves sidetracked on an argument about utilitarianism and the sanctity of life and all that. Tacitus touched on it when he mentioned Arendt's saying about "the banality of evil." Basically Ms. Johnson's theme is how she found herself, to her horror, acknowledging the humanity of Singer and even getting the feeling that he was (at least on the surface) acknowledging her humanity. Of course he is human, I really had no doubts about that; it's only in movies that villanous people with evil ideas are also impolite and nasty to everyone. I turn not to Arendt, who I haven't read more than a few snippets of, but to C.S. Lewis, whose works I have read considerably more of.* Singer displays that common tendency to be found in people who wish to do good in the world: they don't so much wish to solve problems as they come upon them; instead they want to eradicate whatever it is about life that (as they see it) makes these problems arise in the first place. Well, the "root cause" (I might as well use that unpleasant term) of human problems seems to be the unevenness inherent in existence itself. People are all different, their needs and circumstances are all different. These differences rub against each other and often the friction is painful. People like Singer want to end the friction in order to alleviate the occasional pain it causes. The only way to do that is to, in the words of one of Lewis' characters in That Hideous Strength, "make the earth as smooth as a billiard ball." (That's a paraphrase -- I'm too tired to look through the entire book for it.) In Singer's perfect world, there will be no differences, no friction, no pain, and no life.
*Yes, I know that's bad grammar. I don't care. My sinuses ache.
Posted by Andrea Harris at February 16, 2003 02:53 AMPlease see also: Origin Of Standards
Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at February 16, 2003 at 10:41 AMUh, Andrea, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that grammar, if you are referring to ending the sentence with a preposition. That is a phony rule, like the one about splitting infinitives, invented by a self-important blowhard who didn't understand that English is not Latin, and followed slavishly by people who like to think they matter but refuse to think for themselves, i.e. English teachers. Now ask me about run-on sentences (like that last one).
Posted by: Ken Summers at February 16, 2003 at 12:01 PMRun-on sentences rock. I use them copiously.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at February 16, 2003 at 12:20 PMNever underestimate the positive academic career reinforcement that comes from a firm commitment to transgressive ideas. Singer's ideas are the urinal on the wall of moral theory.
Posted by: Ian Wood at February 16, 2003 at 01:43 PM