Erik Hoel on Effective Altruism, Utilitarianism, and the Repugnant Conclusion

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4.7 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2022

⏱️ 77 minutes

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Summary

Neuroscientist Erik Hoel talks about why he is not an "effective altruist" with EconTalk host, Russ Roberts. Hoel argues that the utilitarianism that underlies effective altruism--a movement co-founded by Will MacAskill and Peter Singer--is a poison that inevitably leads to repugnant conclusions and thereby weakens the case for the strongest claims made by effective altruists.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, Conversations for the Curious, part of the Library of Economics
0:07.0	and Liberty.
0:08.0	I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford University's Hoover
0:13.0	Institution.
0:14.0	Go to econtalk.org where you can subscribe, comment on this episode and find links down
0:18.6	the information related to today's conversation.
0:21.6	You'll also find our archives with every episode we've done going back to 2006.
0:26.8	Our email address is mail at econtalk.org.
0:30.3	We'd love to hear from you.
0:37.8	Today is August 31, 2022.
0:39.8	My guest is an neuroscientist and author, Eric Hoel, of Tufts University.
0:45.1	His substack page is the intrinsic perspective.
0:49.0	And his novel, The Revelations, deals with consciousness, love, the mystery of the brain.
0:55.1	Our topic for today is a recent essay he's written on his substack page that we will link
0:58.8	to.
0:59.8	Why I am not an effective altruist, Eric Welcom, Deacon Talk.
1:04.1	Thank you so much for having me, Russ.
1:06.8	So let's start by talking about effector of altruism.
1:08.9	We've had both Will McCaskill and Peter Singer on the program discuss it.
1:12.8	They're the co-founders of the effective altruism movement, listers who pay attention.
1:18.1	We'll know that I'm a skeptic of sorts and like you, I am not an effective altruist.
1:22.5	But I think there's some good things about it.
	...

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