Longtermism is a philosophy that future lives matter and that we have a similar obligation to them as we do to lives around currently. William Macaskill states it in three clauses:
- Future people count
- There could be a lot of them
- We can make their lives better
[broad description of philosophy, something about WWOTF]
Criticisms and responses
- Criticism: Longermism suffers from all the standard criticism of consequentialism
- Response: Longtermism doesn't require consequentialist assumptions. Many individuals and societies have felt an obligation towards their decendents
- Response: Many criticisms of consequentialism are baseless [[criticisms of consequentialism]]
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- Future lives don't exist, how could we care about them
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