As I commented there: I don’t think this is the kind of “ends justify the means” reasoning that MacAskill is objecting to. Vasco isn’t arguing that we should break the law. He’s just doing a fairly standard EA cause prioritization analysis. Arguing that people should not donate to global health doesn’t even contradict common-sense morality because as we see from the world around us, common-sense morality holds that it’s perfectly permissible to let hundreds or thousands of children die of preventable diseases. Utilitarians and other consequentialists are the ones who hold “weird” views here, because we reject the act/omission distinction in the first place.
(For my part, I try to donate in such a way that I’m net-positive from the perspective of someone like Vasco as well as global health advocates.)
Arguing that people should not donate to global health doesn’t even contradict common-sense morality because as we see from the world around us, common-sense morality holds that it’s perfectly permissible to let hundreds or thousands of children die of preventable diseases.
I think I disagree with this. Instead, I think most people find it hard to do what they believe because of social norms. But I think it would be hard to find a significant percentage of people who believe that “letting innocent children die because of what they could do”.
Utilitarians and other consequentialists are the ones who hold “weird” views here, because we reject the act/omission distinction in the first place.
Probably you are somewhat right here, but I believe “letting innocent children die” is even a weirder opinion to have.
As I commented there: I don’t think this is the kind of “ends justify the means” reasoning that MacAskill is objecting to. Vasco isn’t arguing that we should break the law. He’s just doing a fairly standard EA cause prioritization analysis. Arguing that people should not donate to global health doesn’t even contradict common-sense morality because as we see from the world around us, common-sense morality holds that it’s perfectly permissible to let hundreds or thousands of children die of preventable diseases. Utilitarians and other consequentialists are the ones who hold “weird” views here, because we reject the act/omission distinction in the first place.
(For my part, I try to donate in such a way that I’m net-positive from the perspective of someone like Vasco as well as global health advocates.)
Hi @Jbentham,
Thanks for the answer. See https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/K8GJWQDZ9xYBbypD4/pabloamc-s-quick-takes?commentId=XCtGWDyNANvHDMbPj for some of the points. Specifically, the problem I have with the post is not about cause prioritization or cost-effectiveness.
I think I disagree with this. Instead, I think most people find it hard to do what they believe because of social norms. But I think it would be hard to find a significant percentage of people who believe that “letting innocent children die because of what they could do”.
Probably you are somewhat right here, but I believe “letting innocent children die” is even a weirder opinion to have.