The Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles has announced moral philosopher and public intellectual Peter Singer as the winner of the 2021 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture.

Launched in 2016, the $1 million award is given annually to thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world. Selected for his widely influential work in reinvigorating utilitarianism, which has helped shape the animal rights and "effective altruism" movements, Singer has argued for more expansive socioeconomic policies in emergency response and the eradication of global poverty. A self-described consequentialist, Singer believes that actions should be judged by their predictable outcomes; his practical arguments are based on rigorous utilitarian reasoning, which views the welfare of strangers as being equally important to that of oneself and one's own family.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford, Singer has taught at Princeton University since 1999 as the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values. His books include Animal Liberation (1975), The Life You Can Save (2009), and The Most Good You Can Do (2015), in which he argues that people can and should seek to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty, not just in their own localities or countries but everywhere in the world. Singer has announced that he would donate half the $1 million prize to The Life You Can Save, a charity he founded that curates a list of "nonprofits that save or improve the most lives per dollar"; more than a third to organizations combating factory farming and rated as effective by Animal Charity Evaluators; and the remainder to causes recommended by readers of The Life You Can Save.

"Peter Singer has demonstrated the vital role of public philosophy in our world," said Berggruen Institute founder Nicolas Berggruen. "His ideas have provided a robust intellectual framework that has inspired conscientious individual action, better organized and more effective philanthropy, and entire social movements, with the lives of millions improved as a result."

"I am delighted that my work has been recognized by the Jury that awards the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture, and I thank Nicolas Berggruen for his commitment to honoring those who work in philosophy and the field of ideas," said Singer. "I will donate half the prize to The Life You Can Save, a charity I founded to spread the idea of giving to the most effective charities benefiting the world's poorest people. Over the last three years, each dollar spent by The Life You Can Save generated an average of $17 in donations for our recommended high-impact, cost-effective nonprofits, which do tremendous work improving and saving the lives of people in extreme poverty."

(Photo credit: Derek Goodwin)