In Conversation with Peter Singer | Utilitarianism: Avoiding Common Misunderstandings and Responding to Objections

Peter Singer

Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, Emeritus, Princeton University
2021 Berggruen Prize Laureate

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 was, from 1999-2023, the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He first became well-known internationally after the publication of Animal Liberation in 1975. His other books include: Practical Ethics, The Expanding Circle, How Are We to Live?, Rethinking Life and Death, Pushing Time Away, The Life You Can Save, The Point of View of the Universe (co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek), Ethics in the Real World, Animal Liberation Now, and The Buddhist and the Ethicist (co-authored with Shih Chao-Hwei).

In 2012 Singer was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation’s highest civic honor. He founded the charity The Life You Can Save and is a founding co-editor of the Journal of Controversial Ideas. In 2021, he was awarded the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, and in 2023, he shared, with Steven Pinker, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Humanities and Social Sciences.

Tongdong BAI

Dongfang Chair Professor of Philosophy, Fudan University
Ordinary Academician, The Pointifical Academy of Social Sciences

Bai’s research interests include Chinese philosophy and political philosophy. He has two books published in English: China: The Political Philosophy of the Middle Kingdom (Zed Books, 2012), and Against Political Equality: The Confucian Case (Princeton University Press, 2019). He is now working on the philosophy of Han Fei Zi (c. 280-233 BCE), a “Legalist” and a harsh critic of Confucians, as well as a real-life princeling who is often compared with Machiavelli and Hobbes. He is also the director of an English-based MA and visiting program in Chinese philosophy at Fudan University that is intended to promote the studies of Chinese philosophy in the world.

Xiaofei LIU

Professor, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University

Liu works in moral philosophy, moral responsibility, discrimination, and experimental philosophy. He has published a book on moral responsibility in Chinese, Responsibility and Normativity: A Theory of Moral Responsibility, and numerous articles in renowned journals such as Mind, Philosophical Studies, and Philosophical Psychology.

TJ TIAN

Associate Professor, School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China

Tian’s research interests focus on issues on collective action, moral responsibility, and democratic theory. In 2021, she published a book titled Understanding Collective Responsibility, which examines how individuals and groups fulfill moral and political responsibilities within a collective framework. Tian writes a column on utilitarianism for The Thinker Magazine.

Zhilin LI

Founder and CEO, CharityBox
Fellow, The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Zhilin is the Founder and CEO of CharityBox, leading the team in China to explore and identify the best donating channels. His goal is to maximize the social impact of charitable donations. He has a strong interest in unifying distributive justice and utilitarianism, and how to live a moral life. Zhilin has extensive experience working with think tanks, and grassroots organizations. He has worked in the advocacy department of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and as an intern research assistant at the Berggruen Research Center at Peking University. Zhilin graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a degree in Political Philosophy and Economics.