What We Owe the Future

Written by William MacAskill

Narrated by William MacAskill

An Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism”—that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time

The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more—or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today.

In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed; counter the end of moral progress; and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human.

If we put humanity’s course to right, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope, and beauty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781980044369

William MacAskill

William MacAskill is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University. His academic work spans a breadth of fields within normative philosophy, including practical ethics, population ethics, social choice theory and decision theory. At age 28, he became the youngest tenured professor of philosophy in the world. MacAskill is the cofounder of Giving What We Can, 80,000 Hours, the Centre for Effective Altruism and the Oxford University-based Global Priorities Institute. He’s recognised as a World Economic Forum Young Global Shaper and a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur.

Reviews for What We Owe the Future

[John Mertz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

William MacAskill's connection to and the funding of some of his organizations by the controversial founder of the crypto market FTX Sam Bankman-Fried gives a different perspective on the book. The Effective Altruism movement went from practical things like mosquito nets for the third world to focusing on saving future people from AI and in one case stopping predators from eating other animals. Under MacAskill's guidance the EA movement seems like a bunch of well-meaning, Y generation techies with a lot of money who have gone off- track in many cases.

[icebird24 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Super Zusammenstellung und Weiterentwicklung vieler interessanter und wirklich wichtiger Ideen. Habe auch viel über die menschliche Geschichte gelernt. Streckenweise vielleicht etwas technisch, aber an den meisten Stellen sehr anschaulich erklärt.

[albertgoldfain · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Accessible call to action. Interesting thought experiments on population ethics and the philosophy of long-termism.