Part 3: Expanding Our Compassion

The question is not, Can they reason?, nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? Why should the law refuse its protection to any sensitive being?

– Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789)

In this sequence, we consider the question of which groups we ought to grant moral consideration, with a particular focus on animal welfare.

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<— Part 2: Differences in Impact

—> Part 4: Longtermism

Organization Spotlight: Animal Charity Evaluators

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) aims to identify the best ways to improve the lives of animals on a wide scale, while continually updating their recommendations based on new evidence.

Their recommended charities use a range of strategies to help animals, including corporate outreach, legal work, and developing alternative proteins. Interventions in this area can be surprisingly cost-effective: for example, even under conservative estimates, it seems that tens or hundreds of chickens can be spared from cage confinement per dollar spent (source).

Photo credit: Leon Ephraïm

The Essentials

Rad­i­cal Empathy

Mo­ral progress and “Cause X”

On “fringe” ideas

The Case Against Speciesism

Interactive Exercise

Ex­pand­ing Our Com­pas­sion: In­ter­ac­tive exercise

Further Reading

The Drown­ing Child and the Ex­pand­ing Circle

The Pos­si­bil­ity of an On­go­ing Mo­ral Catas­tro­phe (Sum­mary)

Ex­pand­ing Our Com­pas­sion: More to explore