While the word long-termism itself isn’t new, it’s a relatively new way of describing the school of thought in moral philosophy being discussed here — if only because that school of thought itself has been quite small until recently.
I think that is what Will meant by it being a ‘new term’.
There are plans to use longtermism (both the term and the idea) in disciplines beyond moral philosophy (e.g. the Global Priorities Institute’s longtermist research agenda which includes economics in addition to philosophy). So to “prevent confusion”, it’s important to understand whether other fields are using the term, and what other people are likely to think when they hear it.
FWIW, I think for most people something like “ultralongtermist” would do a better job of communicating the time frames Will is talking about.
While the word long-termism itself isn’t new, it’s a relatively new way of describing the school of thought in moral philosophy being discussed here — if only because that school of thought itself has been quite small until recently.
I think that is what Will meant by it being a ‘new term’.
There are plans to use longtermism (both the term and the idea) in disciplines beyond moral philosophy (e.g. the Global Priorities Institute’s longtermist research agenda which includes economics in addition to philosophy). So to “prevent confusion”, it’s important to understand whether other fields are using the term, and what other people are likely to think when they hear it.
FWIW, I think for most people something like “ultralongtermist” would do a better job of communicating the time frames Will is talking about.