I think that the mainstream objections from ‘leftist ethics’ are mostly best thought of as claims about politics and economics that are broadly compatible with Utilitarianism but have very different views about things like the likely effects of charter cities on their environments—so if you want to take these criticisms seriously then go with 3, not 2.
There are some left-wing ideas that really do include different fundamental claims about ethics (Marxists think utilitarianism is mistaken and a consequence of alienation) - those could be addressed by a moral uncertainty framework, if you thought that was necessary. But most of what you’ve described looks like non-marxist socialism which isn’t anti-utilitarian by nature.
As to the question of how seriously to take these critiques beyond their PR value, I think that we should engage with alternate perspectives , but I also think that this particular perspective sometimes gets inaccurately identified as the ‘ethics of mainstream society’ which we ought to pay special attention to because it talks about the concerns relevant to most people, because of the social circles that many of us move in.
I do think that we ought to be concerned when our views recommend things wildly at odds with what most people think is good, but these critiques aren’t that—they’re an alternative (somewhat more popular) worldview, that like EA is also believed preferentially by academics and elites. When talking about the Phil Torres essay, I said something similar,
One substantive point that I do think is worth making is that Torres isn’t coming from the perspective of common-sense morality Vs longtermism, but rather a different, opposing, non-mainstream morality that (like longtermism) is much more common among elites and academics.
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But I think it’s still important to point out that Torres’s world-view goes against common-sense morality as well, and that like longtermists he thinks it’s okay to second guess the deeply held moral views of most people under the right circumstances.
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FWIW, my guess is that if you asked a man in the street whether weak longtermist policies or degrowth environmentalist policies were crazier, he’d probably choose the latter.
As long as we are clear that these debates are not a case of ‘the mainstream ethical views of society vs EA-utilitarianism’, and instead see them as two alternate non-mainstream ethical views that disagree (mostly about facts but probably about some normative claims), then I think engaging with them is a good idea.
I think that the mainstream objections from ‘leftist ethics’ are mostly best thought of as claims about politics and economics that are broadly compatible with Utilitarianism but have very different views about things like the likely effects of charter cities on their environments—so if you want to take these criticisms seriously then go with 3, not 2.
There are some left-wing ideas that really do include different fundamental claims about ethics (Marxists think utilitarianism is mistaken and a consequence of alienation) - those could be addressed by a moral uncertainty framework, if you thought that was necessary. But most of what you’ve described looks like non-marxist socialism which isn’t anti-utilitarian by nature.
As to the question of how seriously to take these critiques beyond their PR value, I think that we should engage with alternate perspectives , but I also think that this particular perspective sometimes gets inaccurately identified as the ‘ethics of mainstream society’ which we ought to pay special attention to because it talks about the concerns relevant to most people, because of the social circles that many of us move in.
I do think that we ought to be concerned when our views recommend things wildly at odds with what most people think is good, but these critiques aren’t that—they’re an alternative (somewhat more popular) worldview, that like EA is also believed preferentially by academics and elites. When talking about the Phil Torres essay, I said something similar,
As long as we are clear that these debates are not a case of ‘the mainstream ethical views of society vs EA-utilitarianism’, and instead see them as two alternate non-mainstream ethical views that disagree (mostly about facts but probably about some normative claims), then I think engaging with them is a good idea.