Peter Albert David Singer is a world-renowned Australian-born Jewish moral philosopher who has spent nearly three decades challenging conventional notions of ethics and laying the groundwork for a revolutionary approach to applied ethics. He is renowned for providing intellectual and philosophical impetus to the global animal rights movement. He is a controversial figure in the field of moral ethics due to his radical views on issues such as considering human-animal intercourse ethical as long as the animal is not harmed, justifying the killing of handicapped infants, and so forth. Singer has suffered a great deal of social stigma and dishonor as a result of such radical views. Nonetheless, his contributions to the world of applied ethics have been well recognized, as evidenced by his appointment as a prestigious professor at Princeton University and his 2012 appointment as a Companion of the Order of Australia. He was named one of Time magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2009 and was named one of Australia’s top ten public intellectuals. Singer serves on the advisory boards of Academics Against Poverty (ASAP) and Incentives for Global Health, the non-governmental organization formed to develop the Health Impact Fund proposal.
Childhood & Adolescence
Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, following his parents’ migration from Vienna. His father was a tea exporter, and his mother was a physician. Singer’s family had a violent history, with many of their forefathers and mothers perished in concentration camps.
Singer attended Preshil School and Scotch College for his formal education. He earned a BA in law, history, and philosophy from the University of Melbourne in 1967 and an MA in 1969 from the same institution.
He attended Oxford University on a scholarship and graduated with a B.Phil in 1971; he wrote a thesis on civil disobedience that was later published as a book titled ‘Democracy and Disobedience’ in 1973.
Career of Peter
Singer published one of his most famous philosophical essays, ‘Famine, Affluence, and Morality,’ in 1971. He discussed how and why people should donate to charities and help those who are dying of starvation in the essay.
In 1975, Singers published his book ‘Animal Liberation,’ in which he discussed animal welfare and how our modern culture practices’speciesism.’ He defended vegetarianism and veganism in his book.
Simultaneously, he was appointed a Radcliffe lecturer at University College, Oxford, and a visiting faculty member at New York University. He eventually returned to Melbourne and spent the majority of his literary career there.
Singer published a number of works between 1976 and 1981, including ‘Animal Rights and Human Obligations: An Anthology’ (1976), ‘Practical Ethics’ (1979), ‘Marx: A Very Short Introduction’ (1980), ‘Animal Factories’ (1980), and ‘The Expanding Circle: Ethics and Sociobiology’ (1980). (1981).
In 1977, he was appointed to the chair of philosophy at Monash University, where he also served as the founding director of the Centre for Human Bioethics. He founded the International Association of Bioethics later in life.
Between 1982 and 1985, he published ‘Hegel’ (1982), ‘Test-Tube Babies: A Guide to Moral Issues, Current Techniques, and Future Possibilities’ (1982), ‘The Reproduction Revolution: New Ways of Making Babies’ (1985), ‘Should the Baby Live? : The Problem of Handicapped Infants’ (1985), and ‘Should the Baby Live? : The Problem of Handicapped Infants’ (1985).
Among his major works from 1986 to 1995 are ‘Ethical and Legal Issues in Guardianship Options for Intellectually Disadvantaged People’ (1986), ‘Animal Liberation: A Graphic Guide’ (1987), ‘A Companion to Ethics’ (1991), ‘Save the Animals!’ (1991), ‘Embryo Experimentation’ (1993), and ‘The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity’ (1996). (1995).
Singer published ‘How Are We to Live? : Ethics in an Age of Self-Interest’ in 1993. The book discusses the history of ethical thought and the meaning of living an ethical life and applying it to daily life.
He unsuccessfully ran for the Australian Senate in 1996 as a Green candidate. Additionally, he wrote ‘Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics’, ‘The Greens’, ‘The Allocation of Health Care Resources’, and other works during that time period.
Singer was appointed Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University in 1999, but due to his stance on bioethical issues, he was considered controversial in the United States, and thus his appointment had to be justified at the time.
Peter published his book ‘A Darwinian Left: Politics, Evolution, and Cooperation’ in 2000. He argued in this book that evolutionary psychology is complementary to and should be integrated into the left’s ideological structure.
He was named Australian humanist of the year in 2004 by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies. ‘Unsanctifying Human Life’, ‘How Ethical is Australia? : An Examination of Australia’s Record as a Global Citizen’, and others were among his writings during this time period.
He appeared in the film and book ‘Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers’ in 2008. Astra Taylor directed the film, which featured eight philosophers. Singer discussed ethics from New York City’s Fifth Avenue.
He authored and published ‘The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End Global Poverty’ in 2009. He discussed the growing global poverty in the book, despite the fact that humanity now has the financial means and material resources to eradicate it completely.
Significant Works of Peter
Singer published ‘Practical Ethics’ in 1979, which is widely regarded as one of his most expansive works. He has gone into detail about the various interests of living beings and the characteristic of a human being to invariably avoid pain.
‘How Are We to Live? : Ethics in a Self-Interesting Age’, published in 1993, is one of Singer’s most popular philosophical works, delving into the quest for a reasonable ethical structure in today’s world.
In 2009, he published ‘The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty,’ which discussed the immorality of today’s generation in failing to unite and eradicate poverty.
Awards and Accomplishments
He was included in Time magazine’s 2009 list of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People.” The singer was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2012 for his contributions to philosophy and bioethics.
He was recognized for his leadership in public debates about poverty, animal welfare, and the human condition.
Estimated Net Worth
Peter is one of the wealthiest philosophers and is ranked on the list of the most popular philosophers. Peter Singer’s net worth is estimated to be around $2 million, based on our analysis of Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
Singer contributes 25% of his earnings to Oxfam and UNICEF and is a member of ‘Giving What We Can,’ an international organization dedicated to promoting poverty relief.
He co-authored a book on surrogate motherhood with physician Deanne Wells. He believes it should be permitted and regulated by the state through the establishment of non-profit’State Surrogacy Boards.’
He has been a vegetarian since 1971 and is gradually transitioning to veganism. In 1999, Steve Forbes, an American publisher, withdrew financial support from Princeton University due to Singer’s appointment to a prominent professorship. Singer’s work sparked protests and controversy in late 1980s Germany.