Sentientism isn’t a comprehensive moral system as you say—it leaves open all of the questions you list and others. It’s similar to secular humanism in that way. My intention in promoting Sentientism is for it to be a simple, unifying baseline philosophy—rather than something comprehensive. For many in the EA community the philosophy will be unremarkable or even obvious, but billions of people around the world are very happy believing and acting without evidence, reason or broad moral compassion. To my mind that exacerbates many of the problems EA is trying to address.
I find the intricacies of traditional philosophy fascinating, but I am wondering if there is more value in bringing large numbers of people up towards a simple, common baseline.
I’m open minded about how closely linked EA could or should be to Sentientism. It feels like a strong fit in some ways, but religiously motivated EAs are likely to disagree, as are those who think only humans warrant moral consideration.
Thanks Aidan—really appreciate the feedback.
Sentientism isn’t a comprehensive moral system as you say—it leaves open all of the questions you list and others. It’s similar to secular humanism in that way. My intention in promoting Sentientism is for it to be a simple, unifying baseline philosophy—rather than something comprehensive. For many in the EA community the philosophy will be unremarkable or even obvious, but billions of people around the world are very happy believing and acting without evidence, reason or broad moral compassion. To my mind that exacerbates many of the problems EA is trying to address.
I find the intricacies of traditional philosophy fascinating, but I am wondering if there is more value in bringing large numbers of people up towards a simple, common baseline.
I’m open minded about how closely linked EA could or should be to Sentientism. It feels like a strong fit in some ways, but religiously motivated EAs are likely to disagree, as are those who think only humans warrant moral consideration.