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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 MAY 2022 4 CULTURE Philosopher Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation, speaks in Malta visit One of the best known living professors of philosopher, anti-poverty and animal liberation campaigner Peter Singer, to deliver annual philosophy lecture MALTA'S Philosophy Sharing Foundation will be hosting em- inent philosopher Peter Singer, the Australian author of 'An- imal Liberation', which levied the charge that human beings' discrimination between other species was not morally justi- fied. The first event will be held on Monday, 30 May at the German Maltese Circle, 6pm in an open forum utilitarianism with Pol- ish philosopher Prof. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, who co-wrote 'A Short Introduction on Util- itarianism' with Prof. Singer. The forum will be chaired by Professor Claude Mangion, Head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Malta. Place are limited to 80 per- sons at €20 for non-members, €10 for paid members, students and senior citizens. The second event will be held on Tuesday, 31 Mat at the Grand Hotel Ex- celsior at 6pm, where Singer will deliver the Annual Phi- losophy Lecture on ethics and animals and global poverty and effective altruism. Entrance €28/€14 (concessions). Born in Melbourne, 1946, Pe- ter Singer became internation- ally well-known after the pub- lication of 'Animal Liberation' in 1975, a challenge to morally justify the way in which humans discriminate between their own species and others. His con- clusions were that such dis- crimination cannot be morally justified and that the majority of human beings are guilty of what he termed 'speciesism'. Like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mills, Peter Singer is a utilitarian consequentialist who believes that the best ac- tion is the one that produces the best result. To work out the best results, Peter Singer main- tains that the interests of an- imals should be taken into ac- count – for they, like humans, share the same capacity to feel pain. In recent years, Peter Singer has been focusing on the need to eradicate poverty on a global level. He has co-founded the organisation The Life You Can Save based on the ideas of his book that carries the same name. "Whether one agrees or not with Peter Singer's views, it cannot be denied that he adopts a consistent approach to mor- al questions and supports his arguments with reasoned ar- guments informed by well re- searched facts," Philosophy Sharing Foundation spokesper- son Ian Rizzo said. In 2005, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2012, he was made a Com- panion of the Order of Austral- ia, the nation's highest order. Earlier this week, Singer was awarded the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture in Los Angeles. He will be donat- ing the entire award he won from this prize to charity. Peter Singer is professor of bioethics at Princeton Universi- ty and laureate professor at the University of Melbourne. His books include 'Practical Eth- ics, Rethinking Life and Death', 'Ethics in the Real World' and most recently: 'Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction', co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek. Visually-impaired artist publishes book VISUALLY-IMPAIRED artist Maria Elich has launched a book entitled 'The Art Beyond Light Project', through which blind artists have expressed their im- agination through art. Featuring a collection of evoc- ative paintings, the book cel- ebrates the talent of visually impaired artists and their daily mission to surmount what Ms Elich describes as the "darkness ambient" around them. Ms Elich – founder of the Art Beyond Light Project, which supports and encourages blind artists through various initia- tives – enjoys painting in the outdoors and making use of the vivid colours she remembers be- fore she went blind at the age of 12. "Our darkness roots and their meaningful dynamics explicit in our own Maltese Blind Art Collection will hopefully serve to enhance local art collections in joyfulness and love," Ms Elich says. To celebrate the launch of the book, Ms Elich – who has worked at Malta Freeport Ter- minals for the past 28 years and whose initiatives receive support from the company – presented a copy as well as a painting depict- ing how she perceives the facility at night to Freeport CEO Alex Montebello and HR Director Duncan Borg Myatt. Mr Montebello said: "Maria's drive, determination and talent are a constant inspiration to all of us and we are proud to count her as one of our colleagues. I encourage everyone to see for themselves the creativity that is in this book." The artist is al- so general secretary of the vol- untary organisation Visual and Non-Visual Network which aims to attract sighted and non-sighted people to the arts in order to promote a healthier en- vironment and a more inclusive society. "United by creativity, appren- tices and experts come together to explore possibilities where art and nature align, as a way of connecting our reality with a universal understanding of the diversity of our existence," Ms Elich said. Copies of the book are available from farrugia23rd@gmail.com Peter Singer

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