Its original meaning may have got somewhat lost in translation, but these days most people credit French writer Victor Hugo with the phrase “an idea whose time has come”.
Hugo, who penned such classics as Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, died nearly 140 years ago, but his famous phrase lives on. And although it has been applied to many concepts over the years, it seems particularly apt for a growing movement that started only a decade or so ago.
According to Oxford philosopher William MacAskill, the term “effective altruism” was coined in 2011 by a group of like-minded individuals involved in academia and the charity sector. But it’s only in the past few months that the idea has gone mainstream, largely thanks to a new book published by MacAskill, which could yet earn him the title as one of the most influential thinkers of the 21st century.
It was MacAskill’s first book, Doing Good Better, that helped transform effective altruists from a handful of philosophy students to a movement with thousands of adherents, including billionaires such as Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and cryptocurrency trader Sam Bankman-Fried. A New Zealand branch was set up in 2015.
According to the Economist, last year alone, effective altruists are estimated to have distributed more than $1 billion to philanthropic causes.
MacAskill’s new book, has turbocharged the trend. magazine recently featured has described the book as a “thrilling prescription for humanity”, while the has a 10-podcast series explaining the concept, and an online guide to EA.
