----- Original Message -----
From: Lennard Davis <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, October 15, 1999 8:57 AM
Subject: Re: Singer/Asch debate
> I'd love to debate with Singer. I spent all day yesterday driving from
> Binghamton to NYC having my own private debate with Singer. Judging from
> the response in my car, I won. But I WAS the only person in the car.
Just for the record, I intend to go on tour with the Rolling Stones. With
my voice, I can kick Mick's butt. At least it sounds that way in my shower.
;-)
> This discussion only reiterates what I've been saying that we need to have
> a PR/speaker's bureau. I can think of any number of people to add on to
> Adrienne who would be able to argue Singer into a corner....
But let's get back to the real world, ok? First, I just don't believe that
our heroes are going to win this series of boxing matches. The judges will
be academics and the students of academics, the great majority of whom are
steeped in the medical model and all of the premises that make Singer
mainstream. We (you and I and other DS activists) will "see" Singer argued
into a corner, but most the audience will "see" that corner as exactly the
place any reasonable person would want to be.
Your recent point was exactly right (Lennard) that bioethics assumes an
individualistic medical model, and that the deepest criticism of Singer is
the criticism of that individualism. But individualism is the core
ideology of the US (if not the UK), and its refutation will never be
achieved in the sound-bite atmosphere of a public debate.
In the US there is an embarrassing history of evolutionary biologists who
eagerly agreed to public debates with fundamentalist creationists. By and
large, the creationists kicked the biologists' butts (in the opinion of the
audiences) even though the biologists usually wandered off thinking that
they'd won the debate because they knew the truth. The creationists were
skilled and experienced in public debates, they knew the audience's
prejudices, and they knew how to ask the biologists questions that couldn't
be answered in sound-bites. As much as I respect the gladiators you
nominate, I do not believe that they can out-sound-bite Singer to an
audience of college students and faculty.
This is a complicated issue. One the one hand, scholarly decisions are not
made on the basis of public jousting matches, but on published scholarship.
(As we have certainly learned from the creationist debates.) On the other
hand, we as activists want to influence public opinion, and not only
scholarly opinion.
I do not believe that the solution is a traveling road show of Singer versus
the Disabilty Scholars. One reason is that we are NOT Mick Jagger; we would
not be victorious in the eyes of the audience as the audience is presently
composed. A second is that a debate with Singer sets the stage with
assumptions that we ought not to accept -- the individualism that you so
rightly criticize. A third is that many members of our community consider
Singer's views so morally repugnant that they ought not to be honored with
our presence. I don't personally feel this way, but I respect those who do.
I certainly don't feel that we should try to book Singer's public
appearances for him.
The increased participation of DS scholars in biomedical ethics conferences
is probably a step in the right direction. Booking Singer into DS venues
seems perverse to me. Like inviting a creationist to a conference on
evolutionary biology. The creationist takes credit for talking with the
scientists -- credit that he does not deserve because he has said nothing
meaningful to them. Singer at the SDS, for example, would be in the same
situation.
Personally, I'd love to argue with Singer. I think I could kick his ass. But
then I think I sing better than Jagger.
Cheers,
Ron
--
Ron Amundson
University of Hawaii at Hilo
Hilo, HI 96720
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