Longtermism

Abstract

Longtermism is an ethical stance which gives priority to improving the long-term future. It is an important concept in effective altruism and serves as a primary motivation for efforts to reduce existential risks to humanity.Sigal Samuel from Vox summarizes the key argument for longtermism as follows: “future people matter morally just as much as people alive today; (…) there may well be more people alive in the future than there are in the present or have been in the past; and (…) we can positively affect future peoples’ lives.”