Peter Singer: belief

Transcript context

…Why be so loyal to a project that is so poor at producing utility? Babies being utility, happiness, well-being, something. I think one reason for supporting secularism is that it seems to me to be true. I don’t think that there is a divine being. I can’t simply say, “Let’s adopt the idea of a divine being and fool ourselves that there is one.” I would rather say, “Given that there isn’t, let’s find ways of having enough children to produce good long-term outcomes.” You do have this piece, I think it’s titled “Secrecy in Consequentialism,” where you say a true consequentialist should be willing to entertain or even advocate ideas just because they will help the world. Why not move away from secularism, become a religious Straussian? The Amish have more kids. We all need to have more kids, and that would be one of the false ideas that you would, at least publicly, embrace.…

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