Lecture 5: Introduction to longtermism

The future of humanity may be longer, larger, and (hopefully) better than all of human history so far. Do we have moral obligations towards people in the future, and if so what are the implications of this for our actions today? In this lesson we will explore one of the most interesting and significant developments in ethics in recent years – longtermism, an approach with surprising conclusions.

Link to presentation.

Additional reading:

• On the Overwhelming Importance of Shaping the Far Future by Nick Beckstead. 
• The Repugnant Conclusion.
• Discounting for Climate Change.
• Stubborn Attachments (chapter 4).
• The case for longtermism.
• Astronomical waste.
• Caring about the distant future: why it matters and what it means.