Peter Singer at SSU

Influential Philosopher Speaks at Weill Hall About Fixing Global Poverty
August 13, 2015
peter singer

The Center for Ethics, Law, and Society (CELS) at Sonoma State University presents "Global Poverty and What We Ought to be Doing About It," a talk by professor Peter Singer, one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People, on September 9 in Weill Hall.

"It's a chance for our students to hear from a high-profile speaker who challenges us to think about altruism in new ways." says Joshua Glassgow, Sonoma State philosophy professor and director of CELS.

Singer, often described as the world's most influential living philosopher, will give a talk titled "Global Poverty and What We Ought to be Doing About It" as CELS' annual "Big Ethics and Law Lecture." Past lectures from CELS have featured topics like race in post-Ferguson America, NSA spying and more.

In 2005 Singer was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and in 2014 he was third on the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute's ranking of Global Thought Leaders.

He is known especially for his work on the ethics of our treatment of animals and for his writing on the obligations of the affluent to aid those living in extreme poverty. He has written or edited over 40 books, including "Animal Liberation," one of Time's best 100 nonfiction books published since 1923.

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.

This event is being produced with the support of a Green Music Center Academic Integration Grant. Singer's talk is Wednesday, Sept. 9 in Weill Hall at the Green Music Center, Sonoma State University, 6:30 p.m.