Effective altruism

Abstract

This is the first collective study of the thinking behind the effective altruism movement. This movement comprises a growing global community of people who organise significant parts of their lives around two key concepts: altruism—the idea that if we use a significant portion of the resources in our possession with a view to helping others then we can improve the world considerably—and effectiveness, focusing on how much good this or that intervention is reasonably expected to do per unit of resource expended. The scale and organisation of the effective altruism movement encourage careful dialogue on questions that have perhaps long been there, throwing them into new and sharper relief. In this volume a team of internationally recognised philosophers, economists, and political theorists present refined and in-depth explorations of issues that arise once one takes seriously the twin ideas of altruistic commitment and effectiveness.