[SydPhil] University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series, Caleb Perl, (Australian Catholic University (Melbourne))

[Ryan Cox]

Hi everyone,

This week's speaker in the University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series is Caleb Perl, (Australian Catholic University (Melbourne))

The title of the talk is "No convergence on longtermism". Here is an abstract for the talk:

Longtermists prioritize the far future. They think that when we donate to relieve suffering, we should only donate to longtermist charities that lower existential risk – the risk that humanity is wiped out, or locked into an oppressive equilibrium. For instance, we should donate to deflecting asteroids, or making AI safe, or something similar - some of Sam Bankman-Fried’s priorities. Donating to relieve present suffering is wrong. Longtermists argue that all defensible moral theories converge on longtermism. The only way to avoid longtermism, they argue, is to discount future people in a way that’s morally indefensible. This talk shows how one kind of moral theory is incompatible with longtermism. I then generalize: I suggest that contractualism and certain kinds of Kantianism would be incompatible with longtermism for closely related reasons.

The seminar will take place at 3:30pm on Wednesday Sep 4 in the Philosophy Seminar Room (N494).

Enquiries about the seminar series can be directed to ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au

Ryan Cox
Associate Lecturer in Philosophy
Discipline of Philosophy
School of Humanities
University of Sydney
ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au
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