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Peter Singer

Peter Singer

Writing for PS since 2001
238 commentaries
1 videos & podcasts

Peter Singer, Founder of the nonprofit organization The Life You Can Save, is Emeritus Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. His books include Consider the Turkey, Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason), Rethinking Life and Death, The Point of View of the Universe, co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, The Most Good You Can Do, Famine, Affluence, and Morality, One World Now, Ethics in the Real WorldWhy Vegan?, and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction, also with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek. In April 2021, W.W. Norton published his new edition of Apuleius’s The Golden Ass. In 2013, he was named the world's third "most influential contemporary thinker" by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. He is a co-author (with Shih Chao-Hwei) of The Buddhist and the Ethicist (Shambhala Publications, 2023).

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  1. What Progressives Must Learn from Trump’s Campaign
    singer236_ohn SenterUCGUniversal Images Group via Getty Images)_trump harris ads John Senter/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

    What Progressives Must Learn from Trump’s Campaign

    Nov 14, 2024 Peter Singer thinks one of the most important lessons is to uphold open debate and address hot-button issues head-on.

  2. Protesting Ethically
    singer235_DAVID CANTINIAUXAFPTVAFP via Getty Images_mona lisa DAVID CANTINIAUX/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images

    Protesting Ethically

    Sep 3, 2024 Peter Singer & Martin Skladany apply four tests of proportionality to nonviolent demonstrations in democratic societies.

  3. Will We Survive the Next 100 Years?
    singer234_Westend61_worldbreaking Westend61/Getty Images

    Will We Survive the Next 100 Years?

    Aug 7, 2024 Peter Singer urges governments to treat existential risks to our species with the seriousness they deserve.

  4. Will Biden Spoil It All?
    singer233_ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_biden ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

    Will Biden Spoil It All?

    Jul 2, 2024 Peter Singer thinks the US president should step aside, or, like other one-time heroes, risk tarnishing his legacy.

  5. Organ Donation Can Save Donors’ Lives, Too
    singer232_Leon NealAFP via Getty Images_organdonation Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images

    Organ Donation Can Save Donors’ Lives, Too

    Jun 19, 2024 Peter Singer shows why a recipient of a new liver or kidney is not necessarily the only one who benefits.

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  1. scherger1ARMEND NIMANIAFP via Getty Images_farming ARMEND NIMANI/AFP via Getty Images
    Free to read

    Carbon Farming Won't Save the Planet

    Sophie Scherger warns that soil-storage offsets may serve as a smokescreen for polluting industries.
  2. bildt129_MaximShipenkovGettyImages_valdai_putin_fail Maxim Shipenkov/Getty Images

    Putin’s March of Folly

    Carl Bildt argues that Russia’s president has only his own poor decisions to blame for his country’s loss of status.
  3. hausmann117_TONY KARUMBAAFP via Getty Images_africawindfarm Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

    A Better Approach to Climate Finance

    Ricardo Hausmann

    By harnessing the capabilities of developing countries, we can accelerate global decarbonization while creating new growth opportunities. This approach would not only advance crucial climate goals but also ensure that a larger share of the world’s population can enjoy the fruits of the clean-energy transition.

    shows how developing countries can accelerate global decarbonization while creating new growth opportunities.
  4. ghosh83_CHRISTIAN MONTERROSAAFP via Getty Images_trump cop CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images

    Trump’s Bad COP

    Jayati Ghosh says the Paris climate agreement’s future depends on how other countries respond to the new US administration.
  5. goldberg32_Spencer PlattGetty Images_USshipping Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Are Tariffs Worth It?

    Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg thinks the risks and costs for the US will far outweigh any potential political or geopolitical benefits.
  6. schalatek1_Resul RehimovAnadolu via Getty Images_cop29 Resul Rehimov/Anadolu via Getty Images
    Free to read

    Is the Loss and Damage Fund Becoming an Empty Promise?

    Liane Schalatek warns that rich countries are once again shirking their responsibility to provide adequate climate finance.
  7. mazzucato77_PABLOPORCIUNCULAGettyImages_G20_summit_prostest PABLO PORCIUNCULA/Getty Images

    How Global Public Investment Should Work

    Mariana Mazzucato & Jonathan Glennie

    Addressing problems like climate change and biodiversity loss calls for new thinking about how to mobilize the huge volume of financing that will be needed. International cooperation must be re-framed as a collective endeavor in which all countries benefit, contribute, and make investment decisions together.

    propose a new model to unlock financing for action on climate change, biodiversity loss, and other issues.
  8. palacio163_Dominika ZarzyckaSOPA ImagesLightRocket via Getty Images_cop29finance Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    COP29 Must Deliver the Goods

    Ana Palacio hopes that geopolitical uncertainty will not thwart ambitious, credible climate-finance commitments.
  9. ngilman1_Ivan LiemanAFP via Getty Images_rwandagorilla Ivan Lieman/AFP via Getty Images

    Interspecies Money Is Here

    Nils Gilman & Mutesi Rusagara look beyond the first ever payments to animals and see a new model for human-wildlife economic collaboration.

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