Moral philosophy is discussed in effective altruism for a number of different reasons.

In some cases, discussions about moral philosophy focus on related topics like:

• How can one measure or compare value? This often focuses on different theories of wellbeing (what is good for a being, questions about non-wellbeing sources of value, more generally what has intrinsic value, etc.)

• Which animals (or other beings) are moral patients — whether they have the capacity for welfare (and how much), and how we should study this question

• Comparisons between deontology and consequentialism, the difference between naive vs. sophisticated consequentialism, etc.

• Theories like longtermism, which is the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time

• The philosophy of effective altruism

Further reading

Parfit, Derek (1984) Reasons and Persons, Oxford: Clarendon press.

Sidgwick, Henry (1907) The Methods of Ethics, 7th ed., London: Macmillan.

Related entries

philosophy | applied ethics | infinite ethics | metaethics | normative ethics | moral patienthood |