Peter Singer recounts how and why he changed his views on objective morality and animal cruelty, and defends effective altruism in the wake of the Sam Bankman-Fried scandal.
Were Sam Bankman-Fried’s intentions misunderstood?
Tune in on Saturday to watch Peter debate Slavoj Žižek and Nancy Sherman – for the first time.
Whether or not moral ideas can be objectively true has divided philosophers for centuries. But can we ever find moral truths? How would we find them? And what can these truths tell us about the world? In this challenging interview, Peter Singer defends his turn to objectivity and argues morality doesn’t need religion, that we should resist our intuitions and that the future of the Effective Altruism movement isn’t as bleak as it may appear.
#morality #ethics #sbf #effectivealtruism
Peter Singer is a prominent philosopher, author and academic. He a professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and specialises in practical ethics. His is best known for his work on global poverty and animal ethics. His book Animal Liberation was a key to the early environmental movement. Interviewed by Senior Producer at the IAI Charlie Barnett.
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00:00 Introduction
00:37 What have philosophers got wrong most often?
01:47 Why believe in moral realism?
03:36 What is ‘objective’ morality?
05:33 Are the people who disagree with you on ethical issues objectively wrong?
07:00 Is objective morality a quasi-religious claim?
08:09 Does objective morality have sociological consequences?
08:59 Do you agree with Sam Harris that there is a false distinction
between facts and values?
10:16 What should have normative force in the making of ethical judgements?
12:12 Doesn’t objective morality appeal to a higher level of intuition?
13:20 Does evolution explain our so-called rational preferences?
14:01 Should we avoid intuitions in our moral reasoning altogether?
15:30 Does thinking calmly and clearly bring different people
to the same conclusion?
16:13 How can we distinguish between good and bad intuitions?
18:27 Why do you think you have been so successful in convincing
others of your philosophical views?
20:31 Sam Bankman-Fried and the future of effective altruism
22:32 Exciting update
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