Judy:
I *have* read "his damn book", in fact several of them. I'm most
emphatically *not* a German trying to shift guilt--my mother's family is
Jewish, so I am, despite the surname. Singer certaily *is* arrogant (or at
least he comes across as such in his writing). He scares the hell out of
me. Inter alia, I don't think he's a mainstream utilitiarian, I think he's
a closet hedonist. Hedonism is dandy, but perhaps less so when it's
presented as utilitarianism.
I could be wrong, but I doubt very much that the anti-Singer thing is
anti-Semitism. Singer is singled out, not because he's a Jew, but because
he's the most high profile advocate of some very nasty stuff.
And furthermore, his scholarship can be called into question as well. The
historical evidence that he cites as justification is pretty shaky...for
which claim you might look among others at Martha Edwards' fine 1996
article on infanticide in antiquity in Ancient History Bulletin, vol 10.
Liz Bredberg
At 12:04 AM 7/7/99 +1000, you wrote:
>Alexa wrote in response to the article in the London Metro:
>
>> This is typical. Sounds like Peter Singer has been successful.
>
>as if Peter Singer was some kind of malign force of evil-rather than
>being a rather mainstream utilitarian philosopher.
>
>I hear that at a recent Harvard anti-Singer rally, there was an unusual
>alliance of Right to Lifers and Disability Activists carrying placards
>saying things like "Dr Singer - the New Mengele".
>
>For a while now, I've been thinking that the reason Peter Singer is
>being demonised,( and I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, that the
>impetus for all this started in Germany) is that a new generation of
>guilty germans is desperate to be able to point the finger at someone
>else. "See! The Jews are just as bad as we were. Maybe even worse".
>It's blatantly obvious, though no one will say it, that this is the
>reason why Peter Singer is being singled out above all else, and is a
>lightning rod for projections of Nazi guilt.
>
>As it happens just today I came across an article in Salon Magazine, at
>http://www.salonmagazine.com/books/it/1999/07/02/philosopher/index.html
>which confirms me in my hypothesis, though the author stops short of
>naming the anti-semitic undercurrents:
>
>But consider this quote:
>
>." The general message [of the demonstrators] : Singer is an arrogant,
>elitist intellectual who has come to America to poison the minds of our
>Ivy League youth. The protesters called him a killer, a Nazi, a hater
>and, perhaps most telling of all, a snob. "
>
>Now where have I heard this stereotypic profile before, I wonder? Except
>with a new enhancement - it seems that there is nothing so delightful
>for people who can't deal with their own guilt as to pass the mantle of
>Nazism to as many Jews as possible. Talk about projection!!
>
>And finally, if you're going to villify Peter Singer, at least read his
>damn book!
>
>Judy Singer
>
>
>
>
Elizabeth Bredberg, PhD
Department of Educational Counselling and Psychology and Special Education
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4
Phone: 604-822-4589
Fax: 604-822-3302
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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