Thanks for the thoughtful reply Michael! I think I was thinking more along what you said in your edit: empirical beliefs are very important, but we (or EAs at least) don’t really disagree on them e.g. objectively there are billions of chickens killed for food each year. Furthermore, we can actually resolve empirical disagreements with research etc such that if we do hold differing empirical views, we can find out who is actually right (or closer to the truth). On the other hand, with moral questions, it feels like you can’t actually resolve a lot of these in any meaningful way to find one correct answer. As a result, roughly holding empirical beliefs constant, moral beliefs seem to be a crux that decides what you prioritise.
I also agree with your point that differing moral intuitions probably lead to different views on worldview prioritisation (e.g. animal welfare vs global poverty) rather than intervention prioritisation (although this is also true for things like StrongMinds vs AMF).
Also appreciate the correction on person-affecting views (I feel like I tried to read a bunch of stuff on the Forum about this, including a lot from you, but still get a bit muddled up!). Will read some of the links you sent and amend the main post.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply Michael! I think I was thinking more along what you said in your edit: empirical beliefs are very important, but we (or EAs at least) don’t really disagree on them e.g. objectively there are billions of chickens killed for food each year. Furthermore, we can actually resolve empirical disagreements with research etc such that if we do hold differing empirical views, we can find out who is actually right (or closer to the truth). On the other hand, with moral questions, it feels like you can’t actually resolve a lot of these in any meaningful way to find one correct answer. As a result, roughly holding empirical beliefs constant, moral beliefs seem to be a crux that decides what you prioritise.
I also agree with your point that differing moral intuitions probably lead to different views on worldview prioritisation (e.g. animal welfare vs global poverty) rather than intervention prioritisation (although this is also true for things like StrongMinds vs AMF).
Also appreciate the correction on person-affecting views (I feel like I tried to read a bunch of stuff on the Forum about this, including a lot from you, but still get a bit muddled up!). Will read some of the links you sent and amend the main post.