Archbishop Fisher to debate philosopher Peter Singer

Published: 09 April 2015

Fisher versus Singer

The Archbishop of Sydney, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, will debate one of the world’s most influential ethicists, Peter Singer, on a yet-to-be-confirmed topic surrounding end-of-life issues on August 13, reports The Catholic Weekly.

                       

 

In a major coup for the student association, the Catholic Society of St Peter, the debate will be held in the Great Hall at the University of Sydney, the same venue where the then Bishop-elect Fisher debated euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke in 2003.

The academic thought of Archbishop Fisher, one of the world’s leading bioethicists, is in almost every respect worlds apart from that of Singer’s.






The Australian-born Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, argues that sentience, or the ability to feel, and rationality, are among the truest markers of personhood, making some animals more ‘persons’ than some humans.

As a utilitarian, he argues that what makes actions morally permissible has nothing to do with the nature of the actions themselves, but whether they maximise pleasure for the greatest number of persons.

His defence of practices such as infanticide, incest and bestiality, and his advocacy for the ethical treatment of animals as well as his own personal altruism, have become well known through his numerous books and speaking engagements.

Daniel Hill, the convenor of University Catholic Chaplaincies, said that the ideas of Peter Singer were popular in many universities and that he looked forward to seeing them challenged.

“What we have here is a true blue exchange of ideas from the two experts in the field on the complete opposite ends of the spectrum,” Mr Hill said.

“People have to deal with these big questions of life and death; the fundamental questions of humanity: Who are we? Why are we here? What are we worth?

“Being debated at Australia’s oldest university, it underscores how important it is to have very robust debate about these issues and enable both sides to be very vocal.”
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Archbishop Fisher to debate controversial philosopher Peter Singer
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Pope Francis attacks 'throw-away' economic globalization

            

                                                                                                            

By James Mackenzie

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis launched a fresh attack on economic injustice on Saturday, condemning the "throw-away culture" of globalization and calling for new ways of thinking about poverty, welfare, employment and society.

In a speech to the association of Italian cooperative movements, he pointed to the "dizzying rise in unemployment" and the problems that existing welfare systems had in meeting healthcare needs.

For those living "at the existential margins" the current social and political system "seems fatally destined to suffocate hope and increase risks and threats," he said.

The Argentinian-born pope, who has often criticized orthodox market economics for fostering unfairness and inequality, said people were forced to work long hours, sometimes in the black economy, for a few hundred euros a month because they were seen as easily replaceable.

"'You don't like it? Go home then'. What can you do in a world that works like this? Because there's a queue of people looking for work. If you don't like it, someone else will," he said in an unscripted change from the text of his speech.

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"It's hunger, hunger that makes us accept what they give us," he said.

His remarks have a special resonance in Italy, where unemployment, particularly among young people, is running at record levels after years of economic recession.

The cooperative movement in Italy, whose roots go back to 19th century workers' associations, have long had close ties to the Catholic Church, with credit services, agricultural and building co-ops forming an important part of the overall economy.

Pope Francis said they could help find new models and methods that could be an alternative model to the "throw-away culture created by the powers that control the economic and financial policies of the globalized world."

Perhaps mindful of a wide-ranging corruption scandal linked to some cooperatives in Rome last year, he attacked those who "prostitute the cooperative name".

But his overall message was that economic rationale had to be secondary to the wider needs of human society.

"When money becomes an idol, it commands the choices of man. And thus it ruins man and condemns him. It makes him a slave," he said.

"Money at the service of life can be managed in the right way by cooperatives, on condition that it is a real cooperative where capital does not have command over men but men over capital," he said.

(Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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Taken from: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-francis-attacks-throw-away-economic-globalization-142552599.html