Doing good badly? Philosophical issues related to effective altruism

Abstract

Effective altruism, a movement focused on maximizing positive impact, prioritizes global issues based on their scale, solvability, and neglectedness. Three prominent priorities include alleviating global poverty, preventing catastrophic risks like nuclear war or rogue AI, and ending factory farming. However, while these claims are intriguing, the field of maximizing good is relatively new and requires careful scrutiny. This thesis critically examines key claims within effective altruism, focusing on the value of saving lives, improving lives through happiness, and cause prioritization methodology. The analysis reveals that saving lives might not be inherently good, happiness can be measured through self-reports highlighting mental health as an overlooked priority, and the cause prioritization methodology proposed by effective altruists needs revision. These findings suggest that effective altruism, while well-intentioned, requires further refinement to ensure its impact is truly maximized.