I think the most basic answer is that Scanlon’s philosophy doesn’t really address the questions the EA community is most interested in, i.e., what are the best opportunities to have a positive impact on the world? What We Owe to Each Other offers a theory of wrongness, which is a very different framing.
I’m a fan of Scanlon’s work, but it has some pretty significant gaps, in my opinion. For example, it doesn’t give great guidance on how to think of moral obligations to non-human animals or future generations.
I think you can make a pretty persuasive Scanlonian-style argument for some of the GWWC-style work, global health interventions, etc. But I’m not sure the Scanlonian argument adds all that much to these topics.
I think people could probably get a lot out of reading Scanlon, especially those who want to better understand non-consequentialist approaches to morality. But there are a lot of good and important books to read, and I’m not sure I’d prioritise recommending Scanlon out of all the many possibilities.
I think the most basic answer is that Scanlon’s philosophy doesn’t really address the questions the EA community is most interested in, i.e., what are the best opportunities to have a positive impact on the world? What We Owe to Each Other offers a theory of wrongness, which is a very different framing.
I’m a fan of Scanlon’s work, but it has some pretty significant gaps, in my opinion. For example, it doesn’t give great guidance on how to think of moral obligations to non-human animals or future generations.
I think you can make a pretty persuasive Scanlonian-style argument for some of the GWWC-style work, global health interventions, etc. But I’m not sure the Scanlonian argument adds all that much to these topics.
I think people could probably get a lot out of reading Scanlon, especially those who want to better understand non-consequentialist approaches to morality. But there are a lot of good and important books to read, and I’m not sure I’d prioritise recommending Scanlon out of all the many possibilities.