Peter Singer Discusses Ethics in Covid-19: Triage, Shutdown, Wet Markets and More

Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Considered by many as “world’s most influential living philosopher,” Prof. Singer works mostly in practical ethics and is known for his controversial critique of the sanctity of life ethics. In this interview, Prof. Singer discusses how one may reason through triage decisions when it's no longer hypothetical to decide who lives and dies; whether the negatives of the economic shutdown outweigh the benefits; when governments should be allowed to intervene with individual choices for better public health outcomes; why he advocates for the closing of wet markets; and the long-term moral-ethical impacts of Covid-19... The interview is co-hosted by Tiger Gao and Arjun Mani, who will also offer an overview of some of the most interesting philosophical, economic, and political arguments central to the crisis today. Prof. Singer is perhaps best known for his book "Animal Liberation," often credited with starting the modern animal rights movement. A vegetarian himself, he co-founded the Australian Federation of Animal Societies, now Animals Australia, the country's largest and most effective animal organization. He is also the founder of "The Life You Can Save," an organization based on his book of the same name. It aims to spread ideas about why we should be doing much more to improve the lives of people living in extreme poverty, and how we can best do this. Prof. Singer's writings have also heavily influenced the development of the effective altruism movement. Prof. Singer has written, co-authored, edited or co-edited more than 50 books, including "Practical Ethics," "The Expanding Circle," "Rethinking Life and Death," "One World," "The Ethics of What We Eat" (with Jim Mason) and "The Point of View of the Universe" (with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek). His writings have appeared in more than 25 languages.