Peter Singer is sometimes called "the world’s most influential living philosopher" although he thinks that if that is true, it doesn't say much for all the other living philosophers around today. He has also been called the father (or grandfather?) of the modern animal rights movement, even though he doesn't base his philosophical views on rights, either for humans or for animals.
In 2005 Time magazine named Singer one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute ranked him 3rd among Global Thought Leaders for 2013. (He has since slipped to 36th in 2018.) He is known especially for his work on the ethics of our treatment of animals, for his controversial critique of the sanctity of life doctrine in bioethics, and for his writings on the obligations of the affluent to aid those living in extreme poverty.
Singer first became well-known internationally after the publication of Animal Liberation in 1975. In 2011 Time included Animal Liberation on its “All-TIME” list of the 100 best nonfiction books published in English since the magazine began, in 1923. Singer has written, co-authored, edited or co-edited more than 50 books, including Practical Ethics; The Expanding Circle; How Are We to Live?, Rethinking Life and Death, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason), The Point of View of the Universe (with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek), The Most Good You Can Do, Ethics in the Real World and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction. His works have appeared in more than 30 languages.
Singer’s book The Life You Can Save, first published in 2009, led him to found a non-profit organization of the same name. In 2019, Singer got back the rights to the book and granted them to the organization, enabling it to make the eBook and audiobook versions available free from its website, www.thelifeyoucansave.org.
Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946, and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. After teaching in England, the United States and Australia, he has, since 1999, been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Since 2005 he has combined that position with the position of Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne, in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies. He is married, with three daughters and four grandchildren. His recreations include hiking and surfing. In 2012 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation’s highest civic honour.
Repensar la vida y la muerte: El derrumbe de nuestra ética profesional pdf by Peter Singer
Una mujer yace en coma irreversible en un hospital. Su cerebro est? da?ado, pero su coraz?n sigue latiendo y, adem?s, est? embarazada. Unos pocos meses m?s tarde, la ayuda m?dica permite que d? a luz un saludable beb?. Un ni?o entra en coma tras golpearse en la cabeza mientras juega a f?tbol. Meses despu?s, los padres piden que le retiren el respirador, pero el hospital se niega. Un d?a, el padre amenaza al personal con una pistola, desenchufa el aparato y permanece junto al chico hasta que muere. Una mujer de setenta a?os sufre un c?ncer incurable, por lo que le pide al m?dico que termine con su vida. Finalmente, este ?ltimo le inyecta cloruro de potasio para que muera. Sin embargo, y aunque es sometido a juicio por asesinato, ni se le encarcela ni se le expulsa del colegio de m?dicos. Estos tres ejemplos certifican que nuestras ideas m?s tradicionales acerca de la vida y de la muerte est?n en crisis. En un mundo de respiradores y de embriones conservados durante a?os en nitr?geno l?quido, ya no podemos seguir considerando la vida humana como la base inamovible de nuestros puntos de vista ?ticos. En este controvertido y pol?mico libro, Peter Singer arguye que no seremos capaces de abordar convenientemente temas b?sicos como la muerte, el aborto, la eutanasia o los derechos de los animales hasta que nos olvidemos de la vieja moral y construyamos una nueva fundamentada en la compasi?n y el sentido com?n.