Peter Singer

Biography

Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian moral philosopher and the Emeritus Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Specialising in applied ethics from a secular, utilitarian framework, he transitioned over his career from preference utilitarianism to hedonistic utilitarianism, as detailed in his co-authored work The Point of View of the Universe.

Singer's writings have shaped major contemporary debates, starting with Animal Liberation, which criticized speciesism and intensive animal farming. His essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" used the drowning child analogy to argue for donating to assist the global poor. He also published The Life You Can Save and The Most Good You Can Do, both of which became influential works within the effective altruism movement.

Singer twice led the philosophy department at Monash University, where he established the Centre for Human Bioethics. Additionally, he co-founded Animals Australia, founded the non-profit organisation The Life You Can Save, stood as a Greens candidate for the Australian Senate, and was honoured as the Australian Humanist of the Year in 2004.

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