Effective Altruism and Religion: Synergies, Tensions, Dialogue

Dr. Dominic Roser; Dr. Stefan Riedener; Prof. Dr. Markus Huppenbauer

doi:10.5771/9783748925361

Summary

A new movement is on the scene: effective altruism—the combination of love and efficiency, making the world a better place not just with a bleeding heart and empathy but with a radical focus on reason and evidence and never losing sight of the goal of maximal impact. Its adherents typically stem from strongly secular environments such as elite philosophy departments or Silicon Valley. So far, a religious perspective on this movement has been lacking. What can people of faith learn from effective altruism, how can they contribute, and what must they criticise? This volume offers a first examination of these questions, providing both a Buddhist and an Orthodox Jewish perspective on them, in addition to various Christian contributions. With contributions byCalvin Baker, Lara Buchak, Mara-Daria Cojocaru, Stefan Höschele, Markus Huppenbauer, Robert MacSwain, David Manheim, Kathryn Muyskens, Stefan Riedener, Dominic Roser and Jakub Synowiec.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2022
Copyright Year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-3-8487-8119-5
ISBN-Online: 978-3-7489-2536-1
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: Religion - Wirtschaft - Politik
Volume: 23
Language: English
Pages: 254
Product Type: Edited Book

Titelei/InhaltsverzeichnisPages 1 - 8 Download chapter (PDF)
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1. 1. Effective Altruism and Religion: An Intriguing Encounter
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2. 2. The Structure and Content of the Book
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3. 3. The Book’s Story
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4. References
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1. Introduction
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2. 1. Effective Altruism
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3. 2. The Buddhist Worldview
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4. 3. Buddhism and Effective Altruism
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5. 3.1. Altruism in Practice
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6. 3.1.1. Saṃsāric Futility and the Bodhisattva Path
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7. 3.1.2. Indirect Altruism
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8. 3.1.3. Politics, Society, and the Longterm Future
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9. 3.2. Altruism in Theory
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10. 4. Conclusion
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11. References
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1. 1. Introduction
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2. 2. Characterising Effective Altruism
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3. 3. Effective Altruism as a Plug-In for Christians
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4. (a) Altruism
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5. (b) Consequentialism
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6. (c) Welfarism
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7. (d) Impartiality
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8. (e) Effectiveness
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9. (f) Truthseeking
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10. (g) Rationalism
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11. 4. A Big Picture Tension: Letting Go of Control
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12. 5. Conclusion
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13. References
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1. 1. Introduction
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2. 2. The Jewish Obligation to Give to Charity
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3. 2.1 Introduction to Jewish Sources and Law
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4. 2.2 Biblical Origins
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5. 2.3 Rabbinic Obligation
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6. 2.4 Comparing the Obligation to Give
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7. 3. Consequentialism within Deontological or Moral Reasoning
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8. 3.1 The Deontological Basis of the Requirement
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9. 3.2 The Virtue Ethics View
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10. 3.3 Priorities in Charity
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11. 4. Comparing Effective Altruism to the Prioritisation of Giving in Jewish Law
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12. 4.1 The Moral (Un)importance of Distance
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13. 4.2 Applications and Implications of Precedence
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14. 5. Effectiveness, Reason, and Evidence for Charitable Giving
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15. 6. Conclusion
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16. References
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1. 1. Promoting the Good. A Pragmatic and an Epistemic Level
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2. 2. What’s Love Got to Do with It?
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3. 3. Looking for the Heart in EA
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4. 4. Murdochian Love and Really Looking (at Effective Altruists, Too)
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5. 5. Now, Meet SOPHIA and AJAX: What Do You See?
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6. 6. “Doing Good Better” – Not “Changing Ideas about Living Ethically”?
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7. References
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1. 1. Introduction
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2. 2. Effective Altruists’ Neighbours
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3. 3. Christian Love and Overseas Aid
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4. 4. Jesus and Utilitarian Reasoning
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5. 5. Distant People as Neighbours
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6. 6. The Less Demanding Interpretation
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7. 7. The Less Demanding Interpretation in the 21st Century
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8. 8. Animals as Neighbours
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9. 9. Future People as Neighbours
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10. 10. Conclusion
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11. References
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1. 1. Altruism, Relationships, and Relational Models Theory
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2. 2. Effective Altruism in a Relational Models Theory Perspective
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3. 3. New Testament Ethics and the Relational Models
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4. 4. On Loving Neighbours and Others
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5. References
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1. 1. Introduction
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2. 2. Systemic Injustice and the Question of the Efficacy of Aid
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3. 3. Selective Asceticism as Activism
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4. 4. Against Earning to Give
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5. 5. Addressing the “Overdemandingness” Objection
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6. 6. Conclusion
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7. References
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1. 1. Introduction
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2. 2. Three Thomist Considerations
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3. 2.1 The Natural Law
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4. 2.2 Humility
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5. 2.3 The Value of Humanity
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6. 3. Discussion
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7. 3.1 Theological Considerations: Divine Providence
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8. 3.2 Moral Considerations: Deontology
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9. 4. Conclusion
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10. References
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1. Introduction
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2. 1. Singer, Saints, and Supererogation
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3. 1.1. Singer and Urmson: Saints and Supererogation
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4. 1.2. Singer and Wolf: Moral Saints
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5. 2. “The Actuality of Sainthood”
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6. 3. Real Saints, Exemplars, and Hagiological Admiration
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7. 4. Conclusion
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8. References
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1. References
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Notes on ContributorsPages 253 - 254 Download chapter (PDF)