Dominic Ryan talks to moral philosopher Peter Singer about US trade deals, Covid-19, Black Lives Matter ... and our relationship with all creatures great and small
HE’S softly spoken, unassuming and entirely engaging. In fact, watching Peter Singer give one of his philosophical discourses online is like having a lockdown virtual pint with your favourite uncle.
It’s not at all the persona you expect of the Australian once dubbed by the media as the “most dangerous man in in the world”.
In fairness, from his canon of unorthodox notions, he had suggested people diagnosed as persistently unconscious might be used as test subjects instead of chimpanzees in the development of the hepatitis vaccine.
Today, the 73-year-old professor of bioethics at Princeton University is no less forthright ... but we begin with a subject, if vitally important, slightly less contentious.
As UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss enters a second round of talks with the US, there are real fears a free trade deal could pose the greatest risk to food safety since mad cow disease.
Alarm bells have been ringing for months, but what can Scotland do about the decimation of animal welfare and the introduction of meat produced in abhorrent circumstances.
“As individuals, we can do two things,” he says. “First, if you eat animal products at all, boycott those from the US because they have far lower animal welfare standards than the UK or the EU.
“Second, be an active citizen. Contact your Member of Parliament to say why you are opposed to this and call on the opposition to take a strong stand against it. As a community, of course, it would be much better to set your own standards and avoid making such deals with the US.”
In the 45 years since Singer’s seminal work on our treatment of species, Animal Liberation, many now follow ideas such as veganism. But has humanity substantively changed its views on speciesism?
“I’m not sure about ‘humanity’ but probably a few hundred million now take the interests of non-human animals more seriously than all but a handful of people did in 1975, when I published Animal Liberation. As evidence for that, I’d point to improved laws protecting farm animals across the entire European Union, as well as the UK, California and some other US states, and to a lesser extent other countries as well.
“Of course, these changes don’t go as far as rejecting speciesism, but they do indicate more concern for animals. The dramatic rise of vegan eating is also relevant, although that is only partly due to concern for animals.”
The outbreak of Covid-19 has further focused minds on our relationship with other species after the pandemic was blamed on the trafficking of bats in so-called “wet markets” in China. Just this week there are substantiated reports of a new flu virus emanating from Chinese pig farms that can be carried to humans.
Does he see a link between the way we treat creatures as commodities and our own physical and mental wellbeing?
“Absolutely. Viruses that have caused pandemics have spread from animals to humans both through the consumption of wild animals and from factory farms – which, by the way, are by no means limited to the West, even if that is where they originated.
“Experts have described factory farms as the perfect breeding ground for viruses, because they crowd tens of thousands of animals together in sheds, putting stress on them that weakens their immune systems. They also routinely feed them antibiotics, which creates an additional health risk from antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”
Singer has been less outspoken in recent years on the subject of animal experimentation, a move he explains as a matter of numbers and efficacy.
He says: “I’m persuaded by the numbers. For every animal suffering in a laboratory, at least 500 are suffering on a factory farm. And factory farming is also far worse for the environment, and for climate change, not to mention our health. So I’m targeting the much larger source of animal suffering.”
The Black Lives Matter movement has become a focus of attention around the