Berggruen Institute awards $1 million prize to Peter Singer while establishing Venice headquarters

Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher known for his ethical ideas, has been honored with the first-ever Berggruen Prize, which comes with a $1 million reward. This accolade celebrates his influential book 'Animal Liberation' from 1975, where he introduced the term 'speciesism' and advanced the cause of animal rights. In a previous essay from 1971, 'Famine, Affluence, and Morality,' he urged Westerners to give more and questioned the morality of personal wealth. The Berggruen Institute, founded in 2010 by billionaire Nicolas Berggruen, tackles issues like climate change and democracy. Recently, they acquired a historic building in Venice, Casa dei Tre Oci, to be their European center for art and design, collaborating with the Fondazione di Venezia to enrich this space in the future.