Peter Singer, who has been called one of the most influential philosophers of his generation, will deliver the University of Delaware’s annual David Norton Lecture at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 7. The event, free and open to the public, will be held in Clayton Hall. His topic will be “Ethics and the Global Community.”

According to Singer, “We are living in a world in which the effects of our actions and choices extend beyond our national borders. It is, therefore, time to reconsider our present conception of ethics, which is based to a large extent on the idea of the nation-state, rather than a single world.”

Singer, who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University’s Center for Human Values is the author of the books, “Practical Ethics, Should the Baby Live?,” “Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics,” and “Making Babies: The New Science and Ethics of Conception” and “Writings on an Ethical Life.”

Singer first came in to the public eye with the publication of his book, “Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for our Treatment of Animals,” a study of the suffering inflicted upon animals in the name of scientific experimentation and food production.

His books have been translated into 18 languages and are widely used in courses at colleges and universities. He is a former president of the International Association of Bioethics and a past editor of its journal, “Bioethics.”

The late Dr. Norton, for whom the lecture is named, joined the UD faculty in 1966 and helped establish the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program. He was the author of two major philosophy books, “Personal Destinies and Democracy” and “Moral Development,” in addition to almost 100 articles and essays.

With his wife, Mary, he edited “Philosophies of Love” and a book entitled “Imagination, Understanding and the Virtue of Liberality,” which was published posthumously. Among his honors was an honorary doctorate from Soka University in Japan.

The lecture is supported by the David Norton Memorial Fund, in conjunction with the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. For more information, call 831-2359.

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April 16, 2002