The toxic ideology of longtermism

Alice Crary ~ RP 2.14 (April 2023), pp. 49–57 ~ Commentary

The intellectual movement that calls itself longtermism is an outgrowth of Effective Altruism (EA), a utilitarianism-inspired philanthropic programme founded just over a decade ago by Oxford philosophers Toby Ord and William MacAskill. EA, which claims to guide charitable giving to do the ‘most good’ per expenditure of time or money, originally focused on mitigating the […]

Against ‘Effective Altruism’

Alice Crary ~ RP 2.10 (Summer 2021), pp. 33–43 ~ Article

Effective Altruism (EA) is a programme for rationalising charitable giving, positioning individuals to do the ‘most good’ per expenditure of money or time. It was first formulated – by two Oxford philosophers just over a decade ago – as an application of the moral theory consequentialism, and from the outset one of its distinctions within […]

Must do better

Reivew of William MacAskill, Doing Good Better ; Peter Singer, The Most Good You Can Do

Rupert Read ~ RP 2.01 (February 2018), pp. 106–109 ~ Review

William MacAskill, Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference (London: Faber and Faber, 2015). 336pp., £8.99 pb., 978 1 78335 051 3 Peter Singer, The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015). 272pp., £14.99 hb., […]