I first heard Peter Singer speak at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in the summer of 2009. The subject was the ethics of what we eat, and the tone of the talk was open and generous. Some in the audience were hardcore animal-rights people, as one would expect at a Singer gig. But the philosopher’s message was that ethical eating is, in fact, a pretty complex matter, bearing not only on animal welfare but also on economic justice and the environmental impact of agriculture, and that what counted as ethical behaviour in one sphere was often difficult to reconcile with ethical behaviour in others. His advice was therefore to do what we could, advice I for one resolved to follow before hogging into the free wine and nibbles around the Beaux-Arts-style reflecting pool.
Philosophy
The tendency to think of climate change as something in humanity’s future, as opposed to something that is unfolding now, in real time and with lethal consequences, has retreated a little in recent months.
The Doomsday Clock was effective Cold War theatre, but does it fail to convey the threat of today’s slowly unfolding existential crises?
FREETHOUGHT TODAY January-February 2026 “Spiritual but Not Religious”? Are You Sure? By Alfie Kohn Have you ever come across someone who qualifies her opinions about gender-related issues by assuring her listener that she’s “not a feminist or anything”? That comment wouldn’t be surprising coming from denizens of the Bible Belt or the MAGAverse who are all in for women’s subservience ... Read More
As part of my critique of pro-natalism, I’m looking at the philosophical foundations of the idea. Most of the explicit discussion takes place within the framework of consequentialism (the idea that the best actions or policies are those with the best consequences) and particularly of utilitarianism, broadly defined to say that the best consequences are […]
2 July 2025 David Howell’s thesis: The new anarchy is digital, not ideological. The microchip and information revolution have changed human relations everywhere, uprooted family ties, life patterns, local communities, world affairs. Microcircuit technology has compelled the need for a new type of democracy, a new pattern of world power, otherwise a slide to domestic … Continue reading Speech on the Book Launch of David Howell’s The Coming Anarchy and How to Avoid It
My new book, Brave New Wild: Can Technology Really Save the Planet? is out and available at/through all fine book stores. And hopefully some disreputable ones too!
At a church in Italy, we sought to shed an old definition for one that could save us
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Three questions for Manvir Singh, author of Shamanism: The Timeless Religion
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Learning to look past indifference and into the mystery of life
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