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
Peter Singer: \u2018I like being out there in the ocean and waiting for the right wave.\u2019 Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/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<\/a> candidate for the Australian Senate<\/a> 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 \u201cNo.\u201d<\/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 Asked if there\u2019s any part of him that wishes he was still in the US to witness the Trump presidency a second time, Singer defers to a one-word answer: no. Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/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 On his book Animal Liberation, Singer says \u2018I wanted people to know they shouldn\u2019t be buying factory farmed products.\u2019 Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Singer may not be satisfied, but his thinking has made an enormous impact. Underpinning all of it is the theory of utilitarianism, a school of thought that states the most ethical choice, in any situation, is the one that provides the greatest good for the greatest number. Or, more specifically when it comes to Singer\u2019s approach, reducing avoidable suffering. More recently, it has driven him to tackle social problems such as solving poverty through strategic effective giving. This inspired a polarising school of thought dubbed effective altruism, inspired by his early essay \u201cFamine, Affluence, and Morality\u201d, which argues that affluent people have a moral duty to donate a significant portion of their income to effective charities to prevent suffering. The essay famously deploys the \u201cdrowning child\u201d<\/a> thought experiment \u2013 if you\u2019d wreck a pair of expensive shoes to save a child that was drowning in front of you, then by that rationale you should spend less on luxuries and donate that money to save lives, including the ones that aren\u2019t right in front of you.<\/p>\n We reach the roaring waters of Dights Falls and take a seat to talk capitalism. Singer has been criticised by some for engaging with the system rather than blowing it up.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve come to accept that we\u2019re not going to get rid of capitalism any time soon. We ought to try and improve it, patch it up, fill the gaps because \u2026 capitalism is still the most productive economic system that has ever existed.\u201d<\/p>\n Singer has previously set up non profit organisations such as The Life You Can Save, which recommends rigorously vetted, high-impact charities. But it\u2019s when he starts talking about his latest venture, Profit for Good, a growing global alliance of businesses committed to donating at least 10% of their net profits to highly effective charities, that he really lights up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to divert some of the profitability of the capitalist economy to fixing the cracks in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n Inspired by the likes of ticketing business Humanitix (which gives away 100% of proceeds) and Australian toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap (50%), Singer\u2019s scheme doesn\u2019t rest with the better angels of \u201csketchy\u201d billionaires like Bankman-Fried \u2013 it focuses on building giving into the business model.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would have been a lot better if Sam (Bankman-Fried) had adopted my ideas and succeeded in what he was doing and lived up to the ideals, and had $25bn or more to give \u2026 but yes, you don\u2019t want to put all your eggs in one basket anyway, or even in three or four billionaires\u2019 baskets.\u201d<\/p>\n As we watch a pair of kayakers tackling a slalom course at the bottom of the falls, Singer concurs he\u2019s sometimes treated like something between a fortune teller and a wise sage. There is a temptation to shake him down for the meaning of life.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people want to discuss it, and I\u2019m happy to talk, maybe not about the meaning of life but about how to live well, and I really enjoy talking to people about how they do that.\u201d (In fact, he co-hosts a podcast on the subject, he is mindful to point out.)<\/p>\n But on the future? \u201cSomebody asked me to contribute to a book about what the world would be like in 2050. I said no, I don\u2019t have any particular expertise in knowing what the world will be like \u2026 I\u2019m very sceptical that many people have much expertise there. I\u2019m very unlikely to be around to see the world in 2050 anyway, so I do try to stick to the issues I\u2019ve thought about.\u201d<\/p>\n Does he worry for his grandkids?<\/p>\n Singer pauses \u2013 and then one of the world\u2019s most famed thinkers defaults to the same setting as most any grandparent.<\/p>\n \u201cI generally have a somewhat optimistic temperament. I\u2019m \u2026 reasonably hopeful that they\u2019ll be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n