Peter Singer

Peter Singer

An older man in a blue shirt is posing for a photo.

Peter Singer has been described as the world’s most influential philosopher. Born in Melbourne in 1946, he has been professor of bioethics at Princeton University since 1999. His many books include Animal Liberation - often credited with triggering the modern animal rights movement - Practical Ethics, The Life You Can Save, The Most Good You Can Do, and Ethics in the Real World. In 2023, he published Animal Liberation Now, a fully revised and updated version of the 1975 original.

Singer’s writings have also inspired the movement known as effective altruism, and he is the founder of the charity The Life You Can Save. In 2021 he was awarded the $1 million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, which he donated to nonprofit organizations working for the causes he supports. In 2023 he received the Frontiers of Knowledge Prize for the Humanities, from the Spanish BBVA Foundation.

4 min
The philosopher thinks that parents of babies that have the more severe variances of diseases like spina bifida should have the right to end their child’s life “swiftly and humanely.”
2 min
The philosopher Peter Singer discusses the dilemma of seeking a life without pain.
5 min
Peter Singer tackles poverty and the environment.
7 min
The philosopher discusses his controversial ideas about handicapped children.
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The philosopher Peter Singer discusses morality and enlightened self-interest.
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The philosopher discusses how understanding selfishness can help us fashion a better society.