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Peter Singer doesn’t deserve an Order of Australia

by Xavier Symons

15 Jun 05:35am

Filed under: Bioethics, Intellectuals, Order Of Australia, Peter Singer, Poverty

204 comments

On Monday, Peter Singer added yet another medal to his trophy cabinet – an Order of Australia.

Very little is off-limits

He was given the laurel for his “eminent service to philosophy and bioethics as a leader of public debate and communicator of ideas”. However, just because someone sparks “debate” and “communicates ideas” doesn’t make them an eminent intellectual. Singer has spent his career proposing outlandish theories, and in the process had a pretty nasty influence on our society. He should not have been given our highest civic honour.

Singer has certainly had a lot to say. He’s written over 25 books, including his famous Animal Liberation, and edited 16 more. He’s published hundreds of articles, given hundreds of interviews, and done 15 major television interviews. He’s currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, as well as being a professor laureate at Melbourne university.

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Grubba says:

03:51pm | 21/06/12

Hey Xavier, Seeing the point of this article seemed to me about your opinion on the matter of Singer getting a Order of Australia, than its an OK article. i would have liked to see what you think an Australian role model should be so we could read your full… Read more »
Ahab says:

12:30am | 21/06/12

Xavier, Singer is an intellectual giant. You deride him for drawing disturbing conclusions about taboo issues, but this is precisely why he is so important. His reasoning is flawless and lacerating. You can’t put him down simply because he proposes things that you disagree with. Certainly, I don’t emotionally like… Read more »

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