Peter Singer
An Australian philosopher whose radical arguments for animal rights and effective altruism have challenged how we think about morality and our obligations to others.
Born 1946 (age 80)·Australian moral philosopher·Birthday: July 6·Baby Boomers
Biography
Peter Singer, with his calm demeanor and razor-sharp logic, has spent decades unsettling comfortable assumptions about ethics. Bursting onto the scene with his 1975 book 'Animal Liberation,' he applied rigorous philosophical reasoning to argue that the suffering of non-human animals matters morally, a work that became a foundational text for the modern animal rights movement. His earlier essay 'Famine, Affluence, and Morality' made a similarly disquieting case: that affluent people have a profound duty to prevent suffering from poverty, a idea that later seeded the effective altruism movement. As a professor at Princeton and other institutions, Singer, working from a utilitarian framework, has fearlessly tackled controversial topics in bioethics, from infanticide to global poverty. While his conclusions often provoke intense debate, his power lies in forcing readers to examine the logical consequences of their moral beliefs.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Peter was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Peter Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Peter's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 70
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 80
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored 'Animal Liberation' (1975), a seminal book that provided a philosophical foundation for the modern animal rights movement.
- Wrote the influential essay 'Famine, Affluence, and Morality,' which argues for a strong obligation to aid the global poor.
- Helped establish and popularize the principles of the effective altruism movement through his writing and advocacy.
- Served as the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, shaping the field of practical ethics.
Did You Know?
He is a vegetarian and applies his ethical principles to his personal life, including donating a significant portion of his income to charity.
His book 'Animal Liberation' was credited by the New York Times with triggering the modern animal rights movement.
He was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Austrian Jewish parents who emigrated to escape the Nazis.
“If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it.”
