I think that most longtermists are aware of the motivational challenge you point out. In fact, major works on longtermism address this challenge, such as Toby Ord’s “The Precipice”, which argues for the importance of mitigating existential risks from a wide range of moral views. Since the motivational challenge is already understood, I think that the most valuable part of this post are the final paragraphs that sketch how the motivational challenge could be overcome. Like Toby, I’d encourage you to further develop these ideas of yours—especially since they seem to come apart from moral philosophy’s obsession with the question whether we are ‘required’ or ‘obligated’ to do the right/best thing.
I think that most longtermists are aware of the motivational challenge you point out. In fact, major works on longtermism address this challenge, such as Toby Ord’s “The Precipice”, which argues for the importance of mitigating existential risks from a wide range of moral views. Since the motivational challenge is already understood, I think that the most valuable part of this post are the final paragraphs that sketch how the motivational challenge could be overcome. Like Toby, I’d encourage you to further develop these ideas of yours—especially since they seem to come apart from moral philosophy’s obsession with the question whether we are ‘required’ or ‘obligated’ to do the right/best thing.