We reference a number of lines of evidence suggesting that donating to AMF does well on sufficientarian, prioritarian, egalitarian criteria. See footnotes 23 and 24. Thus, we provide evidence for our conclusion that ‘it is reasonable to believe that AMF does well on these criteria’. This, of course, is epistemically weaker than claims such as ‘it is certain that AMF ought to be recommended by prioritarians, egalitarians and sufficientarians’. You seem to suggest that concluding with a weak epistemic claim is inherently problematic, but that can’t be right. Surely, if the evidence provided only justifies a weak epistemic claim, making a weak epistemic claim is entirely appropriate.
You seem to criticise us for the movement having not yet provided a comprehensive algorithm mapping values on to actions. But arguing that the movement is failing is very different to arguing that the paper fails in its own terms. It is not as though we frame the paper as: “here is a comprehensive account of where you ought to give if you are an egalitarian or a prioritarian”. As you say, more research is needed, but we already say this in the paper.
Showing that ‘Gabriel fails to show that EA recommendations rely on utiltiarianism’ is a different task to showing that ‘EA recommendations do not rely on utilitarianism’. Showing that an argument for a proposition P fails is different to showing that not-P.
Hi,
We reference a number of lines of evidence suggesting that donating to AMF does well on sufficientarian, prioritarian, egalitarian criteria. See footnotes 23 and 24. Thus, we provide evidence for our conclusion that ‘it is reasonable to believe that AMF does well on these criteria’. This, of course, is epistemically weaker than claims such as ‘it is certain that AMF ought to be recommended by prioritarians, egalitarians and sufficientarians’. You seem to suggest that concluding with a weak epistemic claim is inherently problematic, but that can’t be right. Surely, if the evidence provided only justifies a weak epistemic claim, making a weak epistemic claim is entirely appropriate.
You seem to criticise us for the movement having not yet provided a comprehensive algorithm mapping values on to actions. But arguing that the movement is failing is very different to arguing that the paper fails in its own terms. It is not as though we frame the paper as: “here is a comprehensive account of where you ought to give if you are an egalitarian or a prioritarian”. As you say, more research is needed, but we already say this in the paper.
Showing that ‘Gabriel fails to show that EA recommendations rely on utiltiarianism’ is a different task to showing that ‘EA recommendations do not rely on utilitarianism’. Showing that an argument for a proposition P fails is different to showing that not-P.