The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically (Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics, and Economics)

Peter Singer, often described as the world’s most influential living philosopher, presents a challenging new movement in the search for an ethical life, one that has emerged from his own work on some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Effective altruism involves doing the most good possible. It requires a rigorously unsentimental view of charitable giving, urging that a substantial proportion of our money or time, should be donated to the organisations that will do the most good with those resources, rather than to those that tug the heartstrings.

Singer introduces us to an array of remarkable people who are restructuring their lives in accordance with these ideas, and shows how, paradoxically, effective altruism often leads to greater personal fulfilment.

Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University, and Laureate Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne. He is the author of more than twenty books, including The Life You Can Save. His most recent book is The Most Good You Can Do. Singer was born in Australia. He divides his time between New York City and Melbourne.

‘Peter Singer’s status as a man of principles and towering intellect—a philosopher extraordinaire, if you will—is unrivalled in Australia.’ Sydney Morning Herald

‘Peter Singer is a public intellectual par excellence.‘ Monthly

‘Peter Singer may be the most controversial philosopher alive; he is certainly among the most influential.’ New Yorker

‘Forty years on from Animal Liberation, Peter Singer is still challenging our complacency with his advocacy for new ideas and movements…In clear prose, Singer weaves effective altruism into a timely and convincing ideology.’ Books & Publishing

‘Singer makes a strong case for a simple idea—that each of us has a tremendous opportunity to help others with our abilities, time and money. The Most Good You Can Do is an optimistic and compelling look at the positive impact that giving can have on the world.’ Bill and Melinda Gates

‘The Most Good You Can Do is an important book. Reading it may change your life and save someone else’s.’ Australian Book Review