209 - Peter Singer: Controversial Ideas, Utilitarianism, and Animal Liberation

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor Emeritus of Bioethics in the Department of Philosophy at Princeton University. He is among the most influential living philosophers, and among the most influential moral philosophers of the last century. Peter is best known for his work in applied ethics on animal welfare and global poverty. In this episode, Robinson and Peter discuss these topics after first introducing his more general views on moral philosophy, including those on utilitarianism and meta-ethics. Throughout their conversation they also touch on Peter’s new podcast, Lives Well Lived, co-hosted with Kasia de Lazari Radek, the Journal of Controversial Ideas, Peter’s Substack, Bold Reasoning with Peter Singer, and his latest and next books, which are respectively The Buddhist and the Ethicist (Shambhala, 2023) and Consider the Turkey (Princeton, 2024). Peter’s Website: https://www.petersinger.info Lives Well Lived Podcast: https://shows.acast.com/6628460c6b51e80012b834c2 The Life You Can Save Organization: https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org.au The Journal of Controversial Ideas: https://journalofcontroversialideas.org Peter’s Substack: https://boldreasoningwithpetersinger.substack.com The Buddhist and the Ethicist: https://a.co/d/38DOmbK Consider the Turkey: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691231686/consider-the-turkey  OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 04:14 Peter Singer’s Entry into Philosophy 08:54 What Is Utilitarianism? 10:58 On Consequentialism vs Deontology 13:12 On Trolley Problems and Moral Facts 16:40 On Moral Realism and Anti-Realism 20:51 On Hedonistic Utilitarianism 26:17 The Lives Well Lived Podcast 33:43 A Puzzle About Trolley Problems 38:48 On the Origin of Peter Singer’s Concern for Animals 49:38 Is It Ever Morally Permissible to Eat Meat? 55:32 Consider the Turkey 1:03:07 Famine, Affluence, and Morality 1:09:08 The Life You Can Save 1:10:50 The Buddhist and the Ethicist 1:18:08 The Journal of Controversial Ideas 1:25:50 Peter’s Substack Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, and everyone in-between.