Peter
Journalists have bestowed on Peter Singer the tag of “world’s most influential living philosopher.” They are probably thinking of his work on the ethics of our treatment of animals, often credited with starting the modern animal rights movement, and of the influence that his writing has had on development of effective altruism. He is also known for his controversial critique of the sanctity of life ethics in bioethics.
Several key figures in the animal movement have said that his book Animal Liberation, first published in 1975, led them to get involved in the struggle to reduce the vast amount of suffering we inflict on animals. To that end, he co-founded the Australian Federation of Animal Societies, now Animals Australia, the country’s largest and most effective animal organization. He and his wife, Renata, stopped eating meat in 1971.
He is the founder of The Life You Can Save, an organization based on his book of the same name. It aims to spread his ideas about why we should be doing much more to improve the lives of people living in extreme poverty, and how we can best do this. You can view his TED talk on this topic here.
His writings in this area include: the 1972 essay “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” in which he argues for donating to help the global poor; and two books that make the case for effective giving, The Life You Can Save (2009) and The Most Good You Can Do (2015).
He has written, co-authored, edited or co-edited more than 50 books, including Practical Ethics, The Expanding Circle, Rethinking Life and Death, One World Now, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason) and The Point of View of the Universe (with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek). His writings have appeared in more than 25 languages.
He was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946, and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. After teaching in England, the United States, and Australia, in 1999 he became Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He is now only teaching at Princeton for the Fall semester. He spends part of each year doing research and writing in Melbourne, so that he and Renata can spend time with their three daughters and four grandchildren. They also enjoy hiking, and he surfs.
