Ethical Expertise: Can you develop it?

Date: Wednesday, 9 September 2026
Time: 12pm to 1pm
Venue: Shaw Foundation Alumni House, Saffron Room, Level 1, Singapore

Professor Peter Singer

VK Rajah Professorship in Medical Ethics
NUS Centre for Biomedical Ethics

Biography

Peter Singer has been bestowed the tag of “world’s most influential living philosopher” by journalists. He was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946, and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. After teaching in England, the United States and Australia, he has, since 1999, been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He first became well-known internationally after the publication of Animal Liberation in 1975. Some of his other well-known books are: Practical Ethics, The Expanding Circle, How Are We to Live?, Rethinking Life and Death, Pushing Time Away, The Life You Can Save, The Point of View of the Universe (co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek), Ethics in the Real World, and Why Vegan?

Abstract

Good doctors are experts in medicine. Are good ethics professors experts in ethics?  Some say no, because, they claim, moral judgments can only be based on our feelings or attitudes, and hence are subjective.  Others insist that ethical reasoning is a skill that can be developed. Drawing on examples from bioethics, effective altruism, and our treatment of animals, I’ll argue that we can learn to make better, more soundly-based judgements about what is the right way to live, and the right way to act in the varying circumstances we may encounter in our personal or professional lives.

Continuing Professional Education (for Singapore practising Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists)

CME / CPE points application pending approval.

Conference Venue

Shaw Foundation Alumni House (SFAH)
Saffron Room, Level 1
11 Kent Ridge Dr
Singapore 119244 (Map)

Public Transport Information 

Nearest MRT Station: Kent Ridge (CC24)
Take Exit B
→ Take Bus 200 from Kent Ridge Stn Exit B bus stop

→ Opp Heng Mui Keng Terrace

→ short 5-minute walk to Shaw Foundation Alumni House

Visitor Parking Available

Guests arriving by car can park directly opposite the road at Car Park 15.

Registration