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Epistemic status: Uncertain and speculative. I try not to caveat my claims too much because it makes everything harder to read. If I’ve worded something too strongly, feel free to ask for clarification.
Red-team—“Are longtermism and virtue ethics actually compatible?”
A convincing red-team wouldn’t need a complex philosophical analysis, but rather a summary of divergences between the two theories and an exploration of five or six ‘case studies’ where consequentialist-type behaviour and thinking is clearly ‘unvirtuous’.
Explanation—Given just how large and valuable the long-term future could be, it seems plausible that longtermists should depart from standard heuristics around virtue. For instance, a longtermist working in biosecurity who cares for a sick relative might have good consequentialist reasons to abandon their caring obligations if a sufficiently promising position came up at an influential overseas lobbying group. I don’t think EAs have really accepted that there is a tension here; doing so seems important if we are to have open, honest conversations about what EA is, and what it should be.