Peter Singer is one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. While other philosophers have been more important in the development of the discipline, none has changed more lives. Newsweek magazine observed that the modern animal rights movement may be dated from the publication of Animal Liberation. This book has sold more than 500,000 copies in sixteen languages thus far. Altogether Singer is responsible in whole or part for producing thirty-six books, and a vast number of articles and reviews in journals ranging from The Philosophical Review to the New York Times.

Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, on July 6th, 1946. His parents were Viennese Jews who escaped in 1938, shortly after the Anschluss incorporated Austria into the German Reich. He went on to Melbourne University, where as an undergraduate he studied law, history, and philosophy. In 1969 he received an MA in philosophy...