Peter Singer

Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. He has taught at the University of Oxford, La Trobe University and Monash University, and has held several other visiting appointments. Since 1999 he has been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He has also held the part-time position of Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne, in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. He was also named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

Peter Singer first became well-known internationally after the publication of Animal Liberation in 1975. Since then he has written many other books, including Practical Ethics; The Expanding Circle; How Are We to Live?, The Way We Eat (with Jim Mason) and most recently, The Life You Can Save. His works have appeared in more than 20 languages. He is the author of the major article on Ethics in the current edition of the Encylopaedia Britannica. Two collections of his writings have been published: Writings on an Ethical Life, which he edited, and Unsanctifying Human Life, edited by Helga Kuhse.

Outside academic life, Peter Singer is President of Animal Rights International, a Vice-President of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (UK), a member of the Leadership Council of Oxfam America, and a member of the Advisory Board of GiveWell.net.

Peter Singer is married, with three daughters and three grandchildren. His recreations, apart from reading and writing, include hiking and surfing.