Blue-state philosopher

Culture: Same-sex marriage? Euthanasia? Child's play issues in the avant-garde philosophy of Peter Singer | Marvin Olasky

Parental warning: This article refers to infanticide and some abnormal sexual activities.

PRINCETON, N.J. – Many Christians and conservatives are still celebrating this month's reelection of George W. Bush, and that's a fine thing to do. But a deeper cultural current rolls on, and its representative here in this blue state is Peter Singer.

Many readers may be saying, "Peter who?"—but The New York Times, explaining how his views trickle down through media and academia to the general populace, noted that "no other living philosopher has had this kind of influence." The New England Journal of Medicine said he has had "more success in effecting changes in acceptable behavior" than any philosopher since Bertrand Russell. The New Yorker called him the "most influential" philosopher alive.