An excellent summary of these books - I think I'd opt first for Utilitarianism: For and Against (and will have a look on Ebay and Amazon later).
I've read the Utilitarian: For and Against and also the Singer book. Both are good, although I think the Singer is more accessible - the Williams & Smart book is a little more 'academic' although not a long read.
Interesting that the writer describes Singer as 'almost impossible to argue with. I agreed with almost every position he took on every issue.' I din't find that. I think Singer is deliberately a controversialist. What he does is take incredibly logical steps from a point that most will agree with to a point where I think a lot of people will go - 'hell no, I don't agree with that'. In effect he is challenging those of us who consider ourselves to be inherently logical and rational to recognise that many of us have an illogical line in the sand - an ethical position beyond which we will not go, however logical the step beyond that line seems to be.
Anyhow, read for yourself and tell us what you think.
