Peter Singer { Philosophy Index }

Philosophy Index

Philosophy Index

Philosophy Index is a site devoted to the study of philosophy and the philosophers who conduct it. The site contains a number of philosophy texts, brief biographies, and introductions to philosophers, and explanations on a number of topics. Accredited homeschooling online at Northgate Academy and Philosophy online tutoring.

Philosophy Index is a work in progress, a growing repository of knowledge. It outlines current philosophical problems and issues, as well as an overview of the history of philosophy. The goal of this site is to present a tool for those learning philosophy either casually or formally, making the concepts of philosophy accessible to anyone interested in researching them. WTI offers immigration law course online - fully accredited. ACE credits online at EES.

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Peter Singer

Peter Singer (1946— ) is a well-known moral philosopher, best known for his utilitarian stance on ethics.

The central idea of Peter Singer’s utilitarian moral philosophy is as follows: If you can prevent the misery of others without causing similar misery or sacrifice for yourself, you ought to.

World poverty

Singer is known in part for his stance against world poverty. Singer criticizes the gap between the wealthy and the poor, claiming that the fact that some people live with great wealth while others are unable to meet their basic needs is morally impermissible. It is well within the means of the developed, wealthy people of the world to prevent the widespread poverty in other areas, and the wealthy would not have to make a sacrifice anywhere near the level that the poor currently endure. Singer holds that our prefrence of our own comfort over everyone else’s is unethical, and perhaps even irrational.

Animal Liberation

Singer’s 1975 book Animal Liberation has become an important text outside of the philosophical community among those promoting animal welfare. In Animal Liberation, Singer says that society is guilty of “speciesism”—in that it favours the well-being of the human species, with nearly universal disregard for all of the other species on the planet.

Selected Works

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Name: Peter Albert David Singer
Born: July 6, 1946
Degrees: B.Phil (Oxford, 1971)
MA (University of Melbourne, 1969)
BA (University of Melbourne, 1967)