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HOW CAN WE BEST REDUCE SUFFERING?


Our mission is to reduce severe suffering, taking all sentient beings into account. We develop ethical views that give priority to suffering, and research how to best reduce suffering. Our top priority is to avoid worst-case futures.

Free Books from CRS

Our researchers are pleased to be able to share a selection of books exploring how we can best reduce suffering free of charge. Order a free physical copy, or choose from a range of digital formats.

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Research

Our work focuses on the following main areas:

Suffering-focused ethics

We develop and discuss ethical views that give special priority to the reduction of suffering.

S-risks

We explore scenarios that might result in significant levels of intense suffering on an astronomical scale (s-risks), and aim to better understand how to prevent such worst-case outcomes.

Cause prioritization

We research what our priorities should be at a practical level so as to reduce suffering in the most effective ways.

Read the books

Avoiding the Worst:
How to Prevent a Moral Catastrophe

by Tobias Baumann

From Nineteen Eighty-Four to Black Mirror, we are all familiar with the tropes of dystopian science fiction. But what if worst-case scenarios could actually become reality? And what if we could do something now to put the world on a better path?

In Avoiding the Worst, Tobias Baumann lays out the concept of risks of future suffering (s-risks). With a focus on s-risks that are both realistic and avoidable, he argues that we have strong reasons to consider their reduction a top priority. Finally, he turns to the question of what we can do to help steer the world away from s-risks and towards a brighter future.

“One of the most important, original, and disturbing books I have read. Tobias Baumann provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of s-risk reduction. Most importantly, he outlines sensible steps towards preventing future atrocities. Highly recommended.”

David Pearce, author of The Hedonistic Imperative and Can Biotechnology Abolish Suffering?

Reasoned Politics

by Magnus Vinding

In Reasoned Politics, Magnus Vinding lays out a path toward politics based on ethical reasoning and empirical evidence. He argues that a better approach to politics is both conceivable and realistic. Modern discoveries in political psychology hint at new, improved norms for political discourse and cooperation, while also pointing to concrete ways in which such improvements can gradually be realized.

Having outlined a general framework for reasoned politics, Vinding proceeds to apply this framework to real-world policy issues. Based on an ethical foundation that takes the suffering of all sentient beings into account, he explores various lines of evidence to infer which policies seem most helpful for alleviating severe suffering.

We missed it, now we have it. The Magnum Opus for a Reasoned Politics for all, humans and animals alike. I heartily recommend it to anyone who is interested in a rational approach to politics.

— Sabine Brels, international animal lawyer

Suffering-Focused Ethics:
Defense and Implications

by Magnus Vinding

In Suffering-Focused Ethics: Defense and Implications, Magnus Vinding argues that the reduction of suffering deserves special priority, and explores how we can best reduce suffering in practice.

Suffering-Focused Ethics provides the most comprehensive presentation of suffering-focused arguments and views to date in a single place, including a moral realist case for minimizing extreme suffering. The book then explores the all-important issue of how we can best reduce suffering in practice, and outlines a coherent and pragmatic path forward.

Suffering-Focused Ethics will change its readers, opening new moral and intellectual vistas. This could be the most important book you will ever read.

— Jamie Mayerfeld, professor of political science at the University of Washington,
author of Suffering and Moral Responsibility and The Promise of Human Rights