You’ve drawn a good distinction here, and I should revise what I said before.
In my previous comment, I lazily copied the explanation I use to tell people they shouldn’t capitalize “effective altruism” (“it’s not a religion”). As you say, it doesn’t fit here.
The thing I don’t like about applying “-ist” labeling to EA is the addition of “effective”, which (as many others have said) seems to presume impact in a way that seems a bit arrogant and, more importantly, is really hard to prove.
Are you a pianist? Yes, you play the piano.
Are you a virtue ethicist? Yes, you believe that virtue ethics are correct (or whatever).
Are you an altruist? Yes, you give some of your resources to other people for reasons outside of law, contracts, etc.
Are you a great pianist? …maybe? What defines “great”?
Are you an effective altruist? …maybe? What defines “effective”? You might hold a bunch of ethical beliefs that lots of other people who use that label also hold, but it seems unclear exactly which set of beliefs is sufficient for the label to fit. (And even if we could settle on some canonical set, the word “effective” still seems presumptive in a way I don’t want to apply to individual people.)
You’ve drawn a good distinction here, and I should revise what I said before.
In my previous comment, I lazily copied the explanation I use to tell people they shouldn’t capitalize “effective altruism” (“it’s not a religion”). As you say, it doesn’t fit here.
The thing I don’t like about applying “-ist” labeling to EA is the addition of “effective”, which (as many others have said) seems to presume impact in a way that seems a bit arrogant and, more importantly, is really hard to prove.
Are you a pianist? Yes, you play the piano.
Are you a virtue ethicist? Yes, you believe that virtue ethics are correct (or whatever).
Are you an altruist? Yes, you give some of your resources to other people for reasons outside of law, contracts, etc.
Are you a great pianist? …maybe? What defines “great”?
Are you an effective altruist? …maybe? What defines “effective”? You might hold a bunch of ethical beliefs that lots of other people who use that label also hold, but it seems unclear exactly which set of beliefs is sufficient for the label to fit. (And even if we could settle on some canonical set, the word “effective” still seems presumptive in a way I don’t want to apply to individual people.)