“All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering the animals are our equals.”

About Peter Singer

Singer is an Australian moral philosopher that is known for specializing in applied ethics and his approach to ethical issues from a utilitarian perspective. He earned his B.A and M.A in philosophy while attending the University of Melbourne. At Princeton University, he is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics. At the University of Melbourne, he is a Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.

Accomplishments

• Singer was the chair of the philosophy department at Monash University, which is when he founded the university's Centre for Human Bioethics.
• 1975: Published Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals, which is one of his most famous writings
• 1996: Stood as a Greens candidate for the Australian Senate
• 2000: Inducted into the U.S Animal Rights Hall of Fame
• 2004: Chosen as the Australian Humanist of the Year
• 2006: Voted one of Australia's ten most influential people
• 2012: Recognized as a Companion of the Order of Australia because of his achievements in philosophy and bioethics
• Co-founder of Animals Australia
• Founder of The Life You Can Save
• Author, co-author, edited, and co-edited many publications

Peter Singer on Animal Liberation

" It would be nonsense to say that it was not in the interests of a stone to be kicked along the road... A stone has no interests because it cannot suffer. The capacity for suffering and enjoyment is, however, not only necessary, but also sufficient for us to say that a being has interests - at an absolute minimum, an interest in not suffering. A mouse, for example, does have an interest in not being kicked along the road because it will suffer if it is." -Peter Singer, Animal Liberation

Singer spills the truth about the cruel treatment of animals during factory farming in his book Animal Liberation. Singer states that animals can experience pain and pleasure in the same ways humans can. If animals are able to feel pain like humans, then people should not cause them to suffer. A concept Singer discusses is "speciesism," which is the belief that humans think they have the right to exploit animals because they are a different species. The way humans treat animals is compared to racism. Singer states, "Racists violate the principle of equality by giving greater weight to the interests of members of their own race when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of another race... Similarly, speciesists allow the interests of their own species to override the greater interests of members of other species." Singer believes we have come a long way, but thinks much more improvement is needed towards the treatment of animals.

"Animals have interests. When these are similar to ours, or their pain is on a similar level, why give them less consideration?" - Peter Singer