Executive summary: The claim that effective altruism is “trivial” or universally shared is misguided, as human moral motivations actually vary widely and most people’s everyday moral reasoning differs significantly from the scope-sensitive beneficence that underlies effective altruism.
Key points:
Human motivations vary in selfishness, the breadth of moral concern, and the extent to which altruism is guided by instrumental rationality.
Effective altruism encourages developing moral concerns in the best possible ways, considering opportunity costs and tradeoffs in pursuit of moral optimality.
Most people engaged in charitable giving, activism, or ethical careers do not seriously attempt to do the most good possible.
Dismissing effective altruism as “trivial” is misguided, akin to the error of tautological egoism.
Confronting the disconnect between everyday moral reasoning and the principles of effective altruism may help shift people in a more beneficent direction.
Critics of effective altruism should directly argue against it and for a concrete alternative, rather than eliding the differences in moral motivations.
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Executive summary: The claim that effective altruism is “trivial” or universally shared is misguided, as human moral motivations actually vary widely and most people’s everyday moral reasoning differs significantly from the scope-sensitive beneficence that underlies effective altruism.
Key points:
Human motivations vary in selfishness, the breadth of moral concern, and the extent to which altruism is guided by instrumental rationality.
Effective altruism encourages developing moral concerns in the best possible ways, considering opportunity costs and tradeoffs in pursuit of moral optimality.
Most people engaged in charitable giving, activism, or ethical careers do not seriously attempt to do the most good possible.
Dismissing effective altruism as “trivial” is misguided, akin to the error of tautological egoism.
Confronting the disconnect between everyday moral reasoning and the principles of effective altruism may help shift people in a more beneficent direction.
Critics of effective altruism should directly argue against it and for a concrete alternative, rather than eliding the differences in moral motivations.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.