The Math of Morality
Deep Dive into Utilitarianism and its Repugnant Conclusions
Is a world of a trillion "barely okay" lives better than a million blissful ones? If you follow the math of classical utilitarianism, the answer is a resounding yes.
Effective Altruism is deeply rooted in consequentialism, but when we start aggregating "the good," we quickly run into the Repugnant Conclusion: logical endpoints that feel intuitively wrong, yet mathematically sound.
In this volunteer-led deep-dive, we’ll move beyond the basics to explore:
The Classical Sum: Why "Totalism" leads us to the Repugnant Conclusion.
The Alternatives: Average utilitarianism, prioritarianism, and "person-affecting" views (and the new problems they create).
The Impossibility Theorems: Is there any way to aggregate welfare without falling into a logical trap?
Join us for a rigorous look at the "inescapable flaws" of our moral frameworks.