Peter Singer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter Singer
AC FAHA
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Singer in 2017
|
|
| Born |
Peter Albert David Singer
6 July 1946 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
|
| Education |
|
|
Notable work
|
|
| Spouse(s) |
Renata Diamond
(m. 1968) |
| Awards |
|
| School | |
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | Why Should I Be Moral? (1969) |
| Academic advisors | R. M. Hare (BPhil advisor) |
|
Main interests
|
|
|
Notable ideas
|
|
Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is a famous Australian moral philosopher. He is known for his work in applied ethics, which means he looks at how ethical ideas can be used in real-life situations. He often uses a way of thinking called utilitarianism, which focuses on doing the most good for the most people.
Singer wrote an important book called Animal Liberation in 1975. In this book, he argues that we should be vegetarian or vegan. He also wrote an essay called "Famine, Affluence, and Morality". This essay says that people who are well-off have a duty to help those who are poor around the world. He helped start Animals Australia and created a non-profit group called The Life You Can Save.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, on July 6, 1946. His parents were Austrian Jews who moved to Australia from Vienna in 1938. They left because Nazi Germany took over Austria. Sadly, his grandparents were killed by the Nazis during World War II. His grandfather, David Ernst Oppenheim, was a psychologist who worked with famous thinkers like Sigmund Freud.
Singer grew up in a family that was not very religious. He is an atheist, meaning he does not believe in God. His father had a successful business selling tea and coffee. Peter went to the University of Melbourne and studied law, history, and philosophy. He earned his first degree in 1967 and a master's degree in 1969.
He then went to the University of Oxford in England. There, he wrote about civil disobedience, which is about peacefully refusing to obey certain laws. A key moment in his life happened at Oxford. He was having lunch with a friend who chose a salad because the spaghetti had meat. Peter had never met a vegetarian who gave such a clear reason for their choice. This made him think deeply about eating meat. Soon after, he and his wife decided to stop eating meat.
Academic Career and Influence
After studying at Oxford, Singer taught at University College, Oxford and New York University. In 1977, he returned to Melbourne, Australia. He spent most of his career there, except for times he taught abroad. In 1999, he moved to Princeton University in the United States, where he taught until 2023.
Many people consider Peter Singer to be one of the most famous and widely read philosophers alive today. He has greatly influenced how people think about ethics. In 2018, he helped start an online journal called Journal of Controversial Ideas.
Applied Ethics: Doing Good
Singer's book Practical Ethics (1979) explores how we should decide what is right and wrong. He believes we should consider the interests of all living beings. This means we should treat everyone's interests equally, even if it leads to different actions. For example, a starving person's need for food is more important than someone who is only a little hungry.
Singer believes that ethical actions should be based on reasons that are "universal." This means they should apply to everyone, not just ourselves. He argues that this idea leads to utilitarianism. Utilitarianism suggests we should choose actions that create the most happiness or good for the largest number of those affected.
Effective Altruism and World Poverty
Singer's ideas have helped create the movement called effective altruism. This idea says that people should not only try to reduce suffering but also do it in the most effective way possible. In his 2015 book, The Most Good You Can Do, he explains how effective altruism works.
His organization, The Life You Can Save (TLYCS), suggests charities that are very good at helping people in extreme poverty. Singer founded TLYCS after his 2009 book, also called The Life You Can Save. In this book, he argues that people in rich countries should donate some of their extra money to help the global poor.
He uses the "drowning child analogy" to explain this. Imagine you see a child drowning in a shallow pond. Most people would rescue the child, even if it meant ruining their expensive clothes. Singer argues that saving lives by donating to effective charities is similar. He believes that money spent on unnecessary things could instead save lives. Since 2009, Singer has been a member of Giving What We Can. This group asks its members to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities.
Animal Liberation and Speciesism
.jpg)
Singer's 1975 book, Animal Liberation, was very important for the modern animal liberation movement. The main idea of the book is that we should apply the utilitarian principle of "the greatest good for the greatest number" to animals too. Singer argues that the line between humans and other animals is not as clear as we think. He says that there are more differences between a great ape and an oyster than between a human and a great ape.
He helped make the word "speciesism" popular. This term means treating one species (like humans) as more important than others. Singer believes that all beings who can feel pain or happiness should have their interests considered equally.
In Animal Liberation, Singer supports vegetarianism and is against most animal experimentation. He has been a vegetarian since 1971 and has gradually become mostly vegan. He sometimes eats oysters, mussels, and clams because they do not have a central nervous system. Singer believes that eating meat can be okay if animals live good lives and are killed humanely, without suffering.
He has also criticized the way meat is produced in Western countries. He says it is cruel, unhealthy, and bad for the environment. He points out that animals on factory farms eat a lot of food, but most of that energy is used just for them to live, not to produce meat efficiently. Singer has also spoken about the welfare of fish, noting that trillions of fish are caught each year.
While Singer supports vegetarianism and veganism, he is more open to animal testing if it clearly benefits medicine. He has even defended some actions of the Animal Liberation Front, like taking footage from labs, but he condemns violent actions.
Other Important Ideas
Political Views
Singer has been involved in politics. As a student, he protested against the Vietnam War. He joined the Australian Labor Party but later left it. In 1992, he helped start the Victorian Greens party in Australia. He ran for political office twice for the Greens.
Singer believes that humans naturally have some selfish tendencies. However, he also thinks we have a strong ability to cooperate. He suggests that if society creates the right conditions, even self-interested people will make small sacrifices for others.
He has criticized the United States for buying oil from countries run by dictators. He believes this money should go to the people, not the rulers. Singer also thinks the U.S. should give more aid to people in extreme poverty.
Singer is not against capitalism completely. He thinks it's not perfect, but it's the best system we have found so far for meeting human needs. He believes it works best when it's regulated and combined with good welfare and healthcare systems.
He is against the death penalty. He believes it does not stop crimes and has no other good reason to exist.
Religion
Singer is an atheist. He has debated with Christians about the existence of God. He often points to the problem of evil. This idea questions how a good and all-powerful God could allow so much suffering in the world. He argues that if God created the world, God must be either evil or not very good at creating. He also notes that animals suffer, and they cannot have "original sin" like humans.
Medical Intervention in Aging
Singer supports the idea that medical science should try to slow down the aging process. He thinks this could improve human life more than just treating specific diseases. He worries that if only rich people can afford to slow aging, it could increase unfairness in the world. However, he also believes that over time, these medical advances would become available to more people.
Protests and Challenges
.jpg)
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Peter Singer's ideas led to protests in Germany and Austria. Some groups, especially those supporting disability rights, strongly disagreed with some of his views. They sometimes interrupted his lectures. For example, at a lecture in Zurich, protesters chanted "Singer out!" and one even grabbed his glasses.
Singer believes that these protests, while difficult, actually made more people aware of his ideas. He says that millions learned about his views through media coverage. However, he also notes that these protests made it harder for professors in Germany to teach about applied ethics.
Awards and Recognition
Peter Singer has received many honors for his work.
- In 1981, he became a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
- In 2000, he was added to the United States Animal Rights Hall of Fame.
- In 2012, he received the Order of Australia, a high honor, for his work in philosophy and bioethics.
- In 2016, he won the Philosophy Now Award for his efforts to make people think about global poverty and effective altruism.
- In 2018, he was called a "hero among heroes" in the book Rescuing Ladybugs for his work against speciesism.
- In 2021, he won the US$1-million Berggruen Prize. He decided to give all the money away. Half went to his foundation, The Life You Can Save, and more than a third went to groups fighting intensive animal farming.
- In 2022, he received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award.
His Family Life
Peter Singer married Renata Diamond in 1968. They have three daughters: Ruth, Marion, and Esther. His wife, Renata, is a writer and has worked with him on some publications. She was also the president of a Jewish cultural center in Melbourne.
See also
In Spanish: Peter Singer para niños
- Animal liberationist
- Argument from marginal cases
- Demandingness objection
- Intrinsic value (animal ethics)
- List of animal rights advocates
- J. Howard Moore
- Utilitarian bioethics
- Veganism
