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Peter Singer profile picture
Peter Singer
Author · 34 books

Peter Singer is sometimes called "the world’s most influential living philosopher" although he thinks that if that is true, it doesn't say much for all the other living philosophers around today. He has also been called the father (or grandfather?) of the modern animal rights movement, even though he doesn't base his philosophical views on rights, either for humans or for animals. In 2005 Time magazine named Singer one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute ranked him 3rd among Global Thought Leaders for 2013. (He has since slipped to 36th.) He is known especially for his work on the ethics of our treatment of animals, for his controversial critique of the sanctity of life doctrine in bioethics, and for his writings on the obligations of the affluent to aid those living in extreme poverty. Singer first became well-known internationally after the publication of Animal Liberation in 1975. In 2011 Time included Animal Liberation on its “All-TIME” list of the 100 best nonfiction books published in English since the magazine began, in 1923. Singer has written, co-authored, edited or co-edited more than 50 books, including Practical Ethics; The Expanding Circle; How Are We to Live?, Rethinking Life and Death, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason), The Point of View of the Universe (with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek), The Most Good You Can Do, Ethics in the Real World and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction. His works have appeared in more than 30 languages. Singer’s book The Life You Can Save, first published in 2009, led him to found a non-profit organization of the same name. In 2019, Singer got back the rights to the book and granted them to the organization, enabling it to make the eBook and audiobook versions available free from its website, www.thelifeyoucansave.org. Peter Singer 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, he has, since 1999, been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He is married, with three daughters and four grandchildren. His recreations include hiking and surfing. In 2012 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation’s highest civic honour.

Series

Books

Practical Ethics book cover

Practical Ethics

1979

Utilitarianism book cover

Utilitarianism

A Very Short Introduction

2017

Ethics in the Real World book cover

Ethics in the Real World

90 Essays on Things That Matter - A Fully Updated and Expanded Edition

2023

Animal Liberation book cover

Animal Liberation

1975

Rethinking Life and Death book cover

Rethinking Life and Death

The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics

1995

A Companion to Bioethics book cover

A Companion to Bioethics

1998

The President of Good & Evil book cover

The President of Good & Evil

Questioning the Ethics of George W. Bush

2004

The Way We Eat book cover

The Way We Eat

Why Our Food Choices Matter

2006

A Darwinian Left book cover

A Darwinian Left

Politics, Evolution, and Cooperation

2000

Democracy & Disobedience book cover

Democracy & Disobedience

1973

The Grandest Challenge book cover

The Grandest Challenge

Taking Life-Saving Science from Lab to Village

2011

Pushing Time Away book cover

Pushing Time Away

My Grandfather and the Tragedy of Jewish Vienna

2003

Ethics into Action book cover

Ethics into Action

Learning from a Tube of Toothpaste

1998

The Most Good You Can Do book cover

The Most Good You Can Do

How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically

2015

Marx book cover

Marx

1980

Animal Liberation Now book cover

Animal Liberation Now

The Definitive Classic Renewed

2023

Does Anything Really Matter? book cover

Does Anything Really Matter?

Essays on Parfit on Objectivity

2017

In Defense of Animals book cover

In Defense of Animals

The Second Wave

1985

All Animals Are Equal book cover

All Animals Are Equal

1989

Applied Ethics book cover

Applied Ethics

1986

Ethics book cover

Ethics

1994

The Expanding Circle book cover

The Expanding Circle

Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress

1981

Hegel book cover

Hegel

A Very Short Introduction

1983

Ethics in the Real World book cover

Ethics in the Real World

82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter

2016

Unsanctifying Human Life book cover

Unsanctifying Human Life

Essays on Ethics

2001

How Are We To Live? book cover

How Are We To Live?

Ethics in an Age of Self-Interest

1993

The Point of View of the Universe book cover

The Point of View of the Universe

Sidgwick and Contemporary Ethics

2014

One World book cover

One World

The Ethics of Globalization

2002

Why Vegan? book cover

Why Vegan?

2020

The Life You Can Save book cover

The Life You Can Save

Acting Now to End World Poverty

2009

Famine, Affluence, and Morality book cover

Famine, Affluence, and Morality

1972

The Buddhist and the Ethicist book cover

The Buddhist and the Ethicist

Conversations on Effective Altruism, Engaged Buddhism, and How to Build a Better World

2024

A Companion to Ethics book cover

A Companion to Ethics

1991

Writings on an Ethical Life book cover

Writings on an Ethical Life

2000

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Peter Singer