Announcing The Moral Circle: Who Matters, What Matters, and Why

[jeffsebo]

Hi all, just a short post to let you know that my next book, The Moral Circle: Who Matters, What Matters, and Why, is now available for preorder!

This is the publisher’s description: “Today, human exceptionalism is the norm. Despite occasional nods to animal welfare, we focus on humanity, often neglecting the welfare of a vast number of beings. In The Moral Circle, philosopher Jeff Sebo challenges us to include all potentially significant beings in our moral community, with transformative implications for our lives and societies. As the dominant species, humanity must ask: which nonhumans matter, how much do they matter, and what do we owe them in a world reshaped by human activity and technology? The Moral Circle explores provocative case studies, such as lawsuits over captive elephants and debates over factory-farmed insects, and compels us to consider future ethical quandaries, such as whether to send microbes to new planets and whether to create digital worlds filled with digital minds. Taking an expansive view of human responsibility, Sebo argues that building a positive future requires radically rethinking our place in the world.”

Preorders are increasingly important in publishing, so if you have interest in the book, please preorder, and if you know others who might, please share!

[Ben Stevenson]

Super cool! I’ll preorder. Also, I’m sure Jeff won’t mind me flagging a similar upcoming book from Jonathan Birch, in case anybody is interested in reading both:

Can octopuses feel pain and pleasure?

What about crabs, shrimps, insects or spiders?

How do we tell whether a person unresponsive after severe brain injury might be suffering?

When does a fetus in the womb start to have conscious experiences?

Could there even be rudimentary feelings in miniature models of the human brain, grown from human stem cells?

… and what about AI?

These are questions about the edge of sentience, and they are subject to enormous, disorienting uncertainty. The stakes are immense, and neglecting the risks can have terrible costs.

We need to err on the side of caution, yet it’s often far from clear what ‘erring on the side of caution’ should mean in practice. When are we going too far? When are we not doing enough?

The Edge of Sentience presents a precautionary framework designed to help us reach ethically sound, evidence-based decisions despite our uncertainty.

[jeffsebo]

Yes, thanks for noting this Ben! Very, very excited about The Edge of Sentience—Jonathan and I traded drafts a while ago, and I think that his book is going to be a big deal. And happily the books will pair well together; they both argue for moral circle expansion on precautionary grounds, but they have different areas of focus in a way that makes them nicely complementary.

Thanks for preordering my book as well! :)