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Even in the era of AIDS, sex raises no unique moral issues at all. Decisions about sex may involve considerations about honesty, concern for others, prudence, and so on, but there is nothing special about sex in this respect, for the same could be said of decisions about driving a car. (In fact, the moral issues raised by driving a car, both from an environmental and from a safety point of view, are much more serious than those raised by sex.)
Peter Singer
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Sex, like other activities, involves moral considerations but is not uniquely problematic.

In this quote, Peter Singer argues that while sexual decisions involve moral considerations, they are not inherently more complex or unique than other daily decisions, such as driving a car. He suggests that the moral issues surrounding driving, particularly concerning safety and the environment, are actually more significant than those surrounding sex.

Themes

MoralitySexDecisionsEthicsPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

In a philosophy class discussing ethical implications of actions.

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Pain and suffering are in themselves bad and should be prevented or minimized, irrespective of the race, sex, or species of the being that suffers. How bad a pain is depends on how intense it is and how long it lasts, but pain of the same intensity and duration are equally bad, whether felt by humans or animals.
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If we all think only of our own interests, we are headed for collective disaster - just look at what we are doing to our planet's climate.
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If we use goods made from raw materials that are obtained from a poor country without the proceeds being used to benefit the people of that country, we become complicit in a particularly iniquitous form of grand larceny.
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