Moral and psychological arguments for effective altruism

• Main Author: GOH, SAMANTHA XING YUN
• Other Authors: Andres Carlos Luco
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/73540
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

My paper aims to make a moral case for Effective Altruism (EA) and find the best way to motivate people to be effective altruists (EAs). My paper is motivated by the issue of global poverty, and will use child poverty to illustrate. Firstly, I will introduce the concept of EA. Secondly, I will make a positive argument for our duty to be EAs by proving it is better to do the most one can do (i.e. to do what is within one’s own capacity to do) to eliminate all suffering and how this entails having an obligation to do so. Thirdly, I will provide a moral objection against my argument, then respond to it. Finally, I will highlight psychological obstacles (i.e. why it is difficult to get people to practice EA), and use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to formulate a solution. This section presents a psychology argument for what message EAs should send such that it would best maximize good consequences. My paper aims to prove that EA is morally obligatory and explore how to best motivate people to become EAs, so that we can strive together to do the most we can to eliminate all suffering.