The Moral Weight Project Sequence

If we want to do as much good as possible, we have to compare all the ways of doing good—including ways that involve helping members of different species. But do benefits to humans count the same as benefits to chickens? What about chickens vs. carp? Carp vs. honey bees? In 2020, Rethink Priorities published the Moral Weight Series—a collection of five reports about these and related questions. In May 2021, Rethink Priorities launched the Moral Weight Project, which extended and implemented the research program that those initial reports discussed. This sequence collects Rethink Priorities’ work on cause prioritization across species.

If Adult In­sects Mat­ter, How Much Do Ju­ve­niles Mat­ter?

Re­think Pri­ori­ties’ Welfare Range Estimates

Don’t Balk at An­i­mal-friendly Results

Oc­to­puses (Prob­a­bly) Don’t Have Nine Minds

Do Brains Con­tain Many Con­scious Sub­sys­tems? If So, Should We Act Differ­ently?

Why Neu­ron Counts Shouldn’t Be Used as Prox­ies for Mo­ral Weight

The­o­ries of Welfare and Welfare Range Estimates

The Welfare Range Table

An In­tro­duc­tion to the Mo­ral Weight Project

Differ­ences in the In­ten­sity of Valenced Ex­pe­rience across Species

Does Crit­i­cal Flicker-Fu­sion Fre­quency Track the Sub­jec­tive Ex­pe­rience of Time?

The Sub­jec­tive Ex­pe­rience of Time: Welfare Implications

Re­search Sum­mary: The Sub­jec­tive Ex­pe­rience of Time

How to Mea­sure Ca­pac­ity for Welfare and Mo­ral Status

Com­par­i­sons of Ca­pac­ity for Welfare and Mo­ral Sta­tus Across Species