Admission requirements
The course is aimed at Honours students of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs.
Description
Effective altruism (EA) is an emerging social movement grounded in philosophical ideas, proponents of which use reasoning and evidence to do the most good possible with a given unit of resources. This class is a selective introduction to EA with an emphasis on some aspects of EA that are relevant to security studies. We will critically assess some philosophical underpinnings of EA, explore popular EA topics, and introduce some skills about how EA reasoning can be applied to various issues. It will connect EA ideas to aspects of security studies such as just war theory, nuclear and biological weapons, existential risks, and other topics.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students will have acquired the following knowledge, insights and skills:
- Understand and critically evaluate the central arguments in favor of and against effective altruism (EA).
- Understand some basic aspects of some of main areas in which effective altruists focus.
- Develop critical thinking skills linked to EA such as how to evaluate a moral argument, do cost effectiveness comparisons, conduct Fermi estimates, and do expected value calculations.
- Improve research skills related to EA.
- Understand how an EA lens can be applied to security studies.
Timetable
Mode of instruction
Course load:
This course is worth 5 EC, which means the total course load equals 140 hours.
Contact hours: 20
Self-study (including assignments and reflection): 120
Assessment method
50% Individual paper of 3.000 words
25% Quizzes
25% Two reflection papers (~1page single spaced each)
All grades should be sufficient to pass the course.
Reading list
Initial Background Reading (further specialised readings on core challenges will be provided in advance of the course):
MacAskill, William. 2015. Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference. Avery.
Ord, Toby. 2020. The Precipice: Existential Threat and Our Choice for a Human Future. Hachette Books.
Registration
Registration will be done by Honours coordinator.
Please note: USIS and Brightspace registration will be done centrally.
Contact
Dr. Eamon Aloyo
ISGA