Once dubbed \u2018the most dangerous man on Earth\u2019, the world-renowned moral philosopher discusses accepting capitalism, the return of Trump and disappointment in his most famous work\u2019s impact<\/p>\n
Peter Singer misses the beach. After two decades working in the US the world renowned moral philosopher returned not to his old haunt of bayside Melbourne but its urban centre. He has made do with a \u201cfairly natural\u201d scrubby bushland walking track along the city\u2019s Merri Creek. \u201cI think they\u2019ve done a pretty good job here,\u201d he says approvingly.<\/p>\n
Singer\u2019s manner is dry with a hint of bemusement, still with that same flat Australian accent. He discusses mind bending ethical dilemmas with a pragmatic delivery that\u2019s almost disarmingly casual but softens when he briefly explains why he\u2019s left the bay behind. \u201cOur kids live near here,\u201d he says \u2013 \u201cand they wouldn\u2019t move to us!\u201d Ranging in ages from 12 to 20, his grandchildren are \u201cnow all in this same little pocket, and they come for dinner usually once a week, sometimes we play cards.\u201d<\/p>\n
After calling time on his stint as professor of bioethics at Princeton\u2019s University Center for Human Values, Singer delivered a final lecture at the end of 2023. His PowerPoint presentation began by quoting the horrified reaction to his controversial appointment in 1999 (a former alumni likened it to a sign of the \u201cdecline of western civilisation\u201d). This was, after all, the man once dubbed the \u201cmost dangerous man on Earth\u201d by critics for his views on issues such as voluntary euthanasia, abortion and advocating for parents\u2019 right to selective euthanasia of their disabled newborn babies.<\/p>\n
The presentation touched on his 2021 launch of the Journal of Controversial Ideas, the \u201csad\u201d demise of disgraced crypto billionaire and proponent of effective altruism Sam Bankman-Fried (with a slide entitled \u201cBe good but don\u2019t be sketchy!\u201d) before plugging his website and ending with a disarmingly casual line, \u201cOK, that\u2019s about it guys \u2026\u201d The final slide featured a photo of Singer in a wetsuit, board under one arm and the caption: \u201cBye, I\u2019ve gone surfing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man widely recognised as a foundational thinker for the modern animal rights and effective altruism movements says he\u2019s been too busy to devote proper time to the hobby he took up in his 50s after \u201cgraduating from boogie boarding\u201d. The 80-year-old might have stopped teaching but is not exactly retired (in the last few years he has launched a podcast, a global alliance for corporate philanthropy and an AI version of himself). But he does have a favourite break at a beach south-west of Melbourne. \u201cI like being out there in the ocean and waiting for the right wave,\u201d he says. \u201cLooking at where it\u2019s going to keep breaking and trying to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The southern beaches of the Surf Coast of Victoria seem a long way from Princeton, but Singer was more than ready to call time on America, even before Trump\u2019s second term. \u201cIt was during Biden\u2019s presidency \u2026 and I didn\u2019t really expect Trump to be president again at that time but, certainly, the whole climate was getting more polarised, the fact that he was a major figure \u2026 made it bad enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, Singer railed about then president Joe Biden\u2019s reluctance to bow out of the presidential race. Of his own decision to retire from teaching at a similar age he says \u201csome professors at Princeton stay on too long, and sure they may still be being good teachers when they\u2019re 80, but sometimes it\u2019s good to make space for younger teachers.\u201d He still marvels at the fact that Trump was voted in a second time.\u201cI think they were tired of the Democrats,\u201d he says. \u201cThey wanted somebody who would throw the system up, throw it up in the air, and it would come down differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singer has never shied away from weighing in on politics. In 1996, he stood unsuccessfully as a Greens candidate for the Australian Senate and that same year co-wrote a book, The Greens, with party founder Bob Brown. He cuts a cracking pace as we tackle a steep hill, but asked if there\u2019s any part of him that wishes he was still in the US to witness the Trump presidency a second time, he defers to a one-word answer.<\/p>\n
Catching our breath at the top, he\u2019s grimly matter of fact: \u201cI couldn\u2019t have made any difference. It\u2019s less painful in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
We stop at the Merri Creek stone labyrinth, when Singer notices a particularly bright orange, extremely ugly fungus in the grass and stoops over to poke at it. He identifies it, as a stinkhorn. Singer, it turns out, knows his mushrooms, and doesn\u2019t mind the occasional forage in a pine plantation (\u201cthough you can find field mushrooms round here\u201d.) He\u2019s more likely to scan the ground when he walks than the canopy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I like looking at birds, magpies for instance are wonderful and I love the call of the currawong but, you know, I\u2019m not going to eat them,\u201d he quips.<\/p>\n
That, of course, brings us to the work that Singer is most well known for. First published in 1975 after Singer and his wife, Renata, were inspired to become vegetarians themselves, Animal Liberation argues that sentience is the crucial consideration that obligates humans to give equal consideration to the interests of animals.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Singer updated the book that launched a generation of animal activists and in the process rewrote almost three-quarters of it, including more about climate change and \u201cwhether the animal movement has made progress\u201d.<\/p>\n
Animal Liberation is widely credited for inspiring millions of people to become vegetarian and vegan, but he waves that impact away. \u201cI wanted people to know they shouldn\u2019t be buying factory farmed products. But it\u2019s still a niche group of people which took that on, which is very disappointing,\u201d he says. He doesn\u2019t dwell on it, but he does dismiss the book\u2019s significance: \u201cYou have to say, looking at it, my book has not succeeded in what I wanted it to do.\u201d<\/p>\n