The Other Things Are Not Equal

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i think one of the worries that i have about the way in which philosophers talk about this is that there's a sort of, ou know, other things being equal, titt clause. But sending a hundred dollars to oxfom is not going to have the intended impact. There may be at least special utility to focusing on the local. It's much easier for us to estimate whether i'm going to save a girl in the little point in front of me than whether those hundred dollars that i'm sending to oxon will in fact do good or wind up doing harm.

Peter Singer, the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, is one of the most influential philosophers of the past fifty years. A leading exponent of utilitarianism, he has often explored how individuals can improve the lot of those in need with their own choices.

In this week’s conversation, Peter Singer and Yascha Mounk discuss what utilitarianism gets right, whether the effective altruism movement is effective, and why freedom of inquiry is crucial to improving the world.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

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