production
Skip to Content

PH354V: EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM (2023-2024)

Last modified: 05 Oct 2023 08:46


Course Overview

Effective altruism is an intellectual and social movement seeking to use reason and evidence to identify how to do most good, then doing it. In this course we will examine effective altruism’s philosophical underpinnings, its practical consequences, areas of debate and development, as well as examining the views of its critics. Questions to be addressed include: Are we obliged to give away all our excess wealth to those who are worse off? What kinds of impact do different kinds of charitable giving have? Is overseas aid effective at all? How can one do most good with one’s career? Should one seek to minimise existential risk, such as the risk from misaligned artificial intelligence, nuclear warfare or engineered pandemics? Is it right to prioritise the wellbeing of humans who are currently alive over those who will live in the distant future, or is this just an unjustified, short-termist bias? Does doing the most good involve addressing the harm done to animals? And how should we deal with the high uncertainty (or outright cluelessness) regarding the far-future effects of our actions today?

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 3
Term Second Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Federico Luzzi

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • One of Programme Level 3 or Programme Level 4 or Programme Level 5

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

Effective altruism is an intellectual and social movement seeking to use reason and evidence to identify how to do most good, then doing it. In this course we will examine effective altruism’s philosophical underpinnings, its practical consequences, areas of debate and development, as well as examining the views of its critics. Questions to be addressed include: Are we obliged to give away all our excess wealth to those who are worse off? What kinds of impact do different kinds of charitable giving have? Is overseas aid effective at all? How can one do most good with one’s career? Should one seek to minimise existential risk, such as the risk from misaligned artificial intelligence, nuclear warfare or engineered pandemics? Is it right to prioritise the wellbeing of humans who are currently alive over those who will live in the distant future, or is this just an unjustified, short-termist bias? Does doing the most good involve addressing the harm done to animals? And how should we deal with the high uncertainty (or outright cluelessness) regarding the far-future effects of our actions today?


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Essay

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 35
Assessment Weeks 32 Feedback Weeks 35

Look up Week Numbers

Feedback

Feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen’s SafeAssign system.

Word Count 2000
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire and demonstrate knowledge of EA, its main tenets, variations of the view, and some of the key notions at the heart of these.
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire an understanding of the EA literature, including a thorough grasp of the variety of views in this category, the nuanced differences between them and variations in aims and recommended actions.
ProceduralCreateLearn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers after careful reflection on their strengths & weaknesses and on the best way to make these clear and coherent to the audience
ReflectionCreateDevelop proficiency in written and oral communication skills through class participation and assessment completion.
ReflectionEvaluateDevelop critical thinking skills pertaining to practical questions about how to do most good, and apply these to the principles and theories underpinning effective altruist views

Essay

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 45
Assessment Weeks 38 Feedback Weeks

Look up Week Numbers

Feedback

Feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen’s SafeAssign system

Word Count 2500
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire an understanding of the EA literature, including a thorough grasp of the variety of views in this category, the nuanced differences between them and variations in aims and recommended actions.
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire and demonstrate knowledge of EA, its main tenets, variations of the view, and some of the key notions at the heart of these.
ProceduralCreateLearn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers after careful reflection on their strengths & weaknesses and on the best way to make these clear and coherent to the audience
ReflectionCreateDevelop proficiency in written and oral communication skills through class participation and assessment completion.
ReflectionEvaluateDevelop critical thinking skills pertaining to practical questions about how to do most good, and apply these to the principles and theories underpinning effective altruist views

Online Quiz

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 20
Assessment Weeks 27,28,29,30,32,33,34,35 Feedback Weeks 27,28,29,30,32,33,34,35

Look up Week Numbers

Feedback

Each quiz worth 2.5%. Correct solutions provided after due date.

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire and demonstrate knowledge of EA, its main tenets, variations of the view, and some of the key notions at the heart of these.
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire an understanding of the EA literature, including a thorough grasp of the variety of views in this category, the nuanced differences between them and variations in aims and recommended actions.

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Resit Assessments

Essay

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 100
Assessment Weeks 42 Feedback Weeks 45

Look up Week Numbers

Feedback

Via MyAberdeen SafeAssign

Word Count 2500
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire and demonstrate knowledge of EA, its main tenets, variations of the view, and some of the key notions at the heart of these.
ConceptualUnderstandAcquire an understanding of the EA literature, including a thorough grasp of the variety of views in this category, the nuanced differences between them and variations in aims and recommended actions.
ReflectionEvaluateDevelop critical thinking skills pertaining to practical questions about how to do most good, and apply these to the principles and theories underpinning effective altruist views
ReflectionCreateDevelop proficiency in written and oral communication skills through class participation and assessment completion.
ProceduralCreateLearn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers after careful reflection on their strengths & weaknesses and on the best way to make these clear and coherent to the audience

Compatibility Mode

We have detected that you are have compatibility mode enabled or are using an old version of Internet Explorer. You either need to switch off compatibility mode for this site or upgrade your browser.