McGill | Fall 2022

Reading Group on What We Owe To The Future, by William MacAskill

McGill, Thomson House (converted to Zoom if it becomes unsafe to meet in person).

#1 – What We Owe the Future, Intro. + chs. 1-3: Nov. 10, 22 – 3:30-5:00pm (EST)

#2 – What We Owe the Future, chs. 4 + 5 : Nov. 17, 22 – 3:30-5:00pm (EST)

#3 – What We Owe the Future, chs. 6 + 7: Nov. 24, 22 – 3:30-5:00pm (EST)

To sign up please contact Jordan Walters: jordan.walters@mail.mcgill.ca

For the curious: Here’s a preview essay. And here’s an interview.

And here’s a blurb from the publisher:

The human story is just beginning. There are 5,000 years of written history, but perhaps millions more to come. In What We Owe the Future, philosopher William MacAskill develops a perspective he calls longtermism, showing that our vast future is of enormous moral importance. We uphold the idea that where we live does not affect our moral worth; MacAskill argues that when we live does not matter either. Yet we are putting future generations at grave risk, and not just from climate change. AI could lock us into a perpetual dystopia, and manmade pandemics could consign us to oblivion. So much is at stake because, if we avoid these threats, moral and technological progress could result in unimaginable human flourishing. What we do today will determine the happiness or misery of trillions of people to come. As MacAskill shows, the future is in our hands. 1 Converted to Zoom if it becomes unsafe to meet in person.