Utilitas 31 (1):106-115 (2019)
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Abstract |
Effective altruism (EA) is a movement devoted to the idea of doing good in the most effective way possible. EA has been the target of a number of critiques. In this article, I focus on one prominent critique: that EA fails to acknowledge the importance of institutional change. One version of this critique claims that EA relies on an overly individualistic approach to ethics. Defenders of EA have objected that this charge either fails to identify a problem with EA's core idea that each of us should do the most good we can, or makes unreasonable claims about what we should do. However, I argue that we can understand the critique in a way that is well motivated, and that can avoid these objections.
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Keywords | effective altruism collective obligations |
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DOI | 10.1017/s0953820818000158 |
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References found in this work BETA
Collectives' Duties and Collectivisation Duties.Stephanie Collins - 2013 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 91 (2):231-248.
Can a Random Collection of Individuals Be Morally Responsible?Virginia Held - 1970 - Journal of Philosophy 67 (14):471-481.
Thinking as a Team: Towards an Explanation of Nonselfish Behavior.Robert Sugden - 1993 - Social Philosophy and Policy 10 (1):69-89.
View all 14 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls: Against Hayward's “Utility Cascades”.Ryan Doody - forthcoming - Utilitas:1-8.
Collective Obligations and the Institutional Critique of Effective Altruism: A Reply to Alexander Dietz.Brian Berkey - 2019 - Utilitas 31 (3):326-333.
Beyond Moral Efficiency: Effective Altruism and Theorizing About Effectiveness.Federico Zuolo - forthcoming - Utilitas:1-14.
View all 7 citations / Add more citations
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2018-06-20
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