“For a merely conscious being, death is the cessation of experiences, in much the same way that birth is the beginning of experiences. Death cannot be contrary to an interest in continued life any more than birth could be in accordance with an interest in commencing life. To this extent, with merely conscious beings, birth and death cancel each other out; whereas with self-aware beings, the fact that one may desire to continue living means that death inflicts a loss for which the birth of another is insufficient compensation.”

Australian moral philosopher

Peter Singer is an Australian moral philosopher, best known for his work in applied ethics and for shaping modern debates about animal welfare and global poverty. He is Emeritus Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. His book Animal Liberation, published in 1975, criticized intensive animal farming and speciesism and helped shape the animal rights movement. He is also known for "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," which argues that people have a moral duty to help the global poor, and for later books including The Life You Can Save and The Most Good You Can Do, which influenced the effective altruism movement. He has worked from a secular, utilitarian perspective throughout much of his career.