My TLS essay on long-termism

I am pleased to have the lead cover essay in the new TLS, titled “Every Little Helps.”  I consider three new books on long-termism, and give my latest thoughts on that movement.  Here is one excerpt from a much longer piece:

I have found that many advocates of longtermism favour the analytic mode and consequently de-emphasize the empathetic mode of political argument. That is one reason why longtermism is so controversial. The complicated nature of long-term arguments means that they are most commonly put forward by people with analytical inclinations. The kinds of arguments and discourse that are corralled in support of longtermism emerge from fields such as economics, rational choice theory and ethics, game theory and analytic philosophy. That may be a bug or a feature, depending on your point of view. Either way, the true disagreements over long-termism, as with most political concerns, remain foundationally rooted in our emotions and our personal temperaments.

The right wing has its own version of scepticism about longtermism. To many of my conservative and libertarian friends it sounds like a programme for maximizing state power, or creating world government, for the pursuit of ill-defined, distant benefits that will likely never come to pass. In these people’s cynical but nonetheless insightful view, those who profess longtermism are, deep down, just as concerned with the immediate present and their short-term politics as is everyone else. The left and right-wing critiques may sound very different, but both point to a difficult question: are the most ardent longtermists even capable of longtermism themselves?

Recommended, for the short-term as well.