Editing Peter Singer (section)

===Protests===
[[File:Peter Singer no Fronteiras do Pensamento Porto Alegre (9620101528).jpg|thumb|Singer lecturing in [[Porto Alegre]], Brazil, in 2012]]
In 1989 and 1990, Singer's work was the subject of a number of protests in Germany. A course in ethics led by Hartmut Kliemt at the [[University of Duisburg]] where the main text used was Singer's ''Practical Ethics'' was, according to Singer, "subjected to organised and repeated disruption by protesters objecting to the use of the book on the grounds that in one of its ten chapters it advocates active euthanasia for severely disabled newborn infants". The protests led to the course being shut down.<ref name="Singer-2001">{{cite book |title=Writings on an Ethical Life |first=Peter |last=Singer |chapter=On Being Silenced in Germany |year=2001 |pages=303–318 |publisher=Fourth Estate |isbn=978-1-84115-550-0}}</ref>

When Singer tried to speak during a lecture at [[Saarbrücken]], he was interrupted by a group of protesters including advocates for [[disability rights]]. One of the protesters expressed that entering serious discussions would be a tactical error.<ref>Holger Dorf, "Singer in Saabrücken", ''Unirevue'' (Winter Semester, 1989/90), p.47.</ref> The same year, Singer was invited to speak in [[Marburg]] at a European symposium on "Bioengineering, Ethics and Mental Disability". The invitation was fiercely attacked by leading intellectuals and organisations in the German media, with an article in ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' comparing Singer's positions to [[Nazism]]. Eventually, the symposium was cancelled and Singer's invitation withdrawn.<ref>{{cite web |first=Sheri |last=Berman |author-link=Sheri Berman |url=http://bc.barnard.edu/~sberman/Pages/publications/Brill.pdf |title=Euthanasia, Eugenics and Fascism: How Close are the Connections |publisher=German Politics and Society 17(3) |date=Fall 1999 |archive-date=2 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402234446/http://bc.barnard.edu/~sberman/Pages/publications/Brill.pdf |access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref>

A lecture at the Zoological Institute of the [[University of Zurich]] was interrupted by two groups of protesters. The first group was a group of disabled people who staged a brief protest at the beginning of the lecture. They objected to inviting an advocate of euthanasia to speak. At the end of this protest, when Singer tried to address their concerns, a second group of protesters rose and began chanting ''Singer raus! Singer raus!'' ("Singer out!" in German) When Singer attempted to respond, a protester jumped on stage and grabbed his glasses, and the host ended the lecture. Singer explains "my views are not threatening to anyone, even minimally", and says that some groups play on the anxieties of those who hear only keywords that are understandably worrying (given the constant fears of ever repeating the Holocaust) if taken with any less than the full context of his belief system.<ref name="Singer-1993" />{{rp|pages=346–359}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://criticanarede.com/html/ed99.html |title=Criticanarede.com |publisher=Criticanarede.com |date=31 May 2005 |access-date=28 October 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122145916/http://criticanarede.com/html/ed99.html |archive-date=22 January 2011}}</ref>

In 1991, Singer was due to speak along with [[R. M. Hare]] and {{ill|Georg Meggle|de}} at the 15th [[International Wittgenstein Symposium]] in [[Kirchberg am Wechsel]], Austria. Singer has stated that threats were made to Adolf Hübner, then the president of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, that the conference would be disrupted if Singer and Meggle were given a platform. Hübner proposed to the board of the society that Singer's invitation, as well as the invitations of a number of other speakers, be withdrawn. The Society decided to cancel the symposium.<ref name="Singer-2001" />

In an article originally published in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', Singer argued that the protests dramatically increased the amount of coverage he received, saying that "instead of a few hundred people hearing views at lectures in Marburg and Dortmund, several millions read about them or listened to them on television". Despite this, Singer argues that it has led to a difficult intellectual climate, with professors in Germany unable to teach courses on applied ethics and campaigns demanding the resignation of professors who invited Singer to speak.<ref name="Singer-2001" />