Climate change Quote by Peter Singer
““What we are doing to strangers in other communities right now is, therefore, far more serious and far more widespread than the harm we would do if we were in the habit of occasionally sending out a group of warriors to rape and pillage a village or two. Yet causing imperceptible harm at a distance by the release of waste gases is a completely new form of harm, and so we lack any kind of instinctive inhibitions or emotional response against causing it. We have trouble seeing it as harm at all.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Life You Can Save, Peter Singer, 2009
The quote argues that indirect, large‑scale environmental damage is morally serious, even though people lack instinctive aversion to it.
In simple terms: Environmental harm is serious despite being invisible.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and act on hidden ecological damage.
Themes
ethics
environment
responsibility
indirect harm
moral psychology
Mood
concerned
reflective
Type
ethical
philosophical
environmental
When to use this quote
- policy making
- corporate sustainability
- personal consumption
- education campaigns
Key Concepts
utilitarianism
externalities
collective responsibility
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we make invisible harm visible?
- What moral duties arise from indirect damage?
A Different Perspective
People may underestimate harm because it is not immediate or visible.
![“There could conceivably be circumstances in which an experiment on an animal stands to reduce suffering so much that it would be permissible to carry it out even if it involved harm to the animal... [even if] the animal were a human being.” quote by Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bf7/peter-singer-1001_animal_there-could-conceivably-be-circumstances_307252.jpg)
![“Nineteen thousand children [are] dying every day. Does it really matter that we're not walking past them in the street? Does it really matter that they're far away? I don't think it does make a morally relevant difference.” quote by Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cc1/peter-singer-1001_children_nineteen-thousand-children-are-dying-eve_33961.jpg)
