MacAskill asks us to think about what we can do today to improve the chances of a good life for sentient beings (humans, animals, and whatever else there might be) in the untold aeons to come.
I found this long-termist perspective truly breathtaking, while also feeling securely grounded in the wealth of empirical research and the careful step-by-step development of arguments he presents.
By no means uncontroversial, this tour-de-force offers actual practical guidelines. In doing so, it builds on previous works on "effective altruism" (by MacAskill himself and by Peter Singer), works that changed my life, not least by inspiring me to make substantial donations to charities, including the ones founded by MacAskill and Singer.
“This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that.” —Ezra Klein
An Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism” — that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time.
The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more — or it could…
Jonathan Leighton is one of only a few contemporary writers exploring the often very troubling implications of an ethical stance that puts the recognition, reduction, and prevention of the suffering of sentient beings (including animals) first.
And Leighton has set up the Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering to translate his writings into action. In addition to being a reader, I have come to support the work of thisorganisation.
The Tango of Ethicsshould perhaps come with a warning (or is this a kind of promise?): After reading this book, you may never see the world the same way again.
Despite existing for thousands of years, the field of ethics remains strongly influenced by several largely unquestioned assumptions and cognitive biases that can dramatically affect our priorities. The Tango of Ethics: Intuition, Rationality and the Prevention of Suffering proposes a deep, rigorous reassessment of how we think about ethics. Eschewing the traditional language of morality, it places a central emphasis on phenomenological experience and the unique urgency of suffering wherever it occurs, challenges our existence bias and examines the consequences of a metaphysically accurate understanding of personal identity.
A key paradigm in The Tango of Ethics is the conflict and…
As a film scholar and Christopher Nolan fan, I was very excited about the prospect of seeing Oppenheimer, and I prepared myself by reading many books on nuclear matters, including this biography of the so-called ‘father of the atomic bomb,’ which the movie is based on.
Having been obsessed with (reading about) the threat of nuclear war ever since my childhood in West Germany in the 1960s and 70s, I had high expectations, and the book did not disappoint (nor did the movie). There is so much to learn here about this odd genius and the history of modern physics, the Manhattan Project and attempts to bring nuclear weapons under international control, the left-leaning politics of many scientists, and the anti-communist witch hunts of the post-war years.
Physicist and polymath, 'father of the atom bomb' J. Robert Oppenheimer was the most famous scientist of his generation. Already a notable young physicist before WWII, during the race to split the atom, 'Oppie' galvanized an extraordinary team of international scientists while keeping the FBI at bay. As the man who more than any other inaugurated the atomic age, he became one of the iconic figures of the last century, the embodiment of his own observation that 'physicists have known sin'.
Years later, haunted by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer became a staunch opponent of plans to develop the hydrogen bomb.…
Celebrated for its beauty and mystery, its hyperrealism and visual spectacle, and the depth and breadth of its story and themes, 2001: A Space Odyssey is considered one of the best films ever made.
Richly illustrated with screenshots and based on extensive archival research on the film’s production history, marketing, and reception, my book reveals that 2001 was Stanly Kubrick's attempt to counter the deep pessimism of his previous film, Dr. Strangelove, which ends in a nuclear apocalypse, with a more hopeful vision of humanity's future, here facilitated by the intervention of enigmatic extra-terrestrial artifacts.
I reconstruct Kubrick's daring move to turn the movie itself into an enigmatic artifact and the enormous impact this has had on viewers ever since.
