Should Suffering-Reducers Focus on AI?

04.04.2026David Veldran

Posted in AI, Cause prioritisation. Tagged artificial intelligence, cause prioritization.

If we want to reduce suffering over the long term, should AI be a top priority? As capabilities advance and talk of AGI and the singularity fills the airwaves, some argue we should focus heavily on AI. Others are skeptical. In their view, steering AI may be just one important cause among many—and prioritizing it risks neglecting more reliable ways of reducing suffering. Who is right?

Pro

The strongest case for focusing on AI begins with the claim that it could be a genuine hinge-of-history technology—not just another tool, but something with imminent world-shaping potential. If we reach human-level or superhuman systems, the paradigm of “smart” humans controlling “dumb” tools would be over. If that happens, all bets are off, but it seems reasonable to expect tremendous impacts. [...]

The Case for Being Nonpartisan

20.03.2026David Veldran

Posted in Cause prioritisation, Cooperation, Politics. Tagged Cooperation.

Modern politics often turns moral issues into tribal contests. Crucial debates about what we should value and how we should act quickly devolve from truth-seeking to status-defending, as ideas and causes become signals of identity and allegiance.

If we hope to reduce suffering, this pattern is dangerous. When a cause gets caught up in a political culture war, it invites backlash and shrinks the coalition of people willing to help. For that reason, there is great value in being nonpartisan in our efforts to reduce suffering. By nonpartisan, I don’t mean unprincipled, centrist, or reluctant to take strong stances. Rather, I mean not identifying with a pre-defined political tribe, like the Red or Blue (or Grey) tribe. Resisting the tribal logic of modern politics is difficult but important: it helps to keep the movement to reduce suffering healthy—with norms of cooperation and open inquiry—and focused. [...]

Reducing Suffering: An Institutional Approach

06.03.2026David Veldran

Posted in Cause prioritisation, Politics.

There are many different approaches we can take to reduce suffering. One that seems especially promising is to target society’s institutions and better equip them to reduce suffering.

Why institutions? First, they have disproportionate power. Legal systems, markets, regulatory frameworks, research norms, media ecosystems, and international agreements do not merely express social values; they shape them to a large extent. Institutions structure incentives, constrain behavior, allocate authority, and determine which problems receive sustained attention. [...]

The Animal Gap in AI Governance

27.02.2026David Veldran

Posted in AI.

By Alistair Stewart

How can we steer AI development today and in the future to reduce animal suffering, rather than increase it? One place to look is AI governance: the set of norms, policies, laws and institutions whose purpose is to influence how AI is developed and used. [...]

Non-Negligible: We Should Not Ignore S-risks

09.02.2026David Veldran

Posted in s-risks.

Pascal famously argued that belief in God is rational because of the expected value of belief. If God exists, the rewards of believing—eternal salvation—are infinite, while if God does not exist, the costs of believing are finite. Even a minuscule probability of an infinite reward seemingly swamps any worldly cost.

That is the core of Pascal’s Wager. But then there is Pascal’s Mugging. A stranger approaches and insists that if Pascal hands over a mere 100 dollars, they will pay him back tomorrow with an infinite amount of money. It may seem absurd to accept this deal, but as long as the probability that the stranger is telling the truth is above zero, the expected financial gain of handing over the money still seems greater than keeping it. Yet this may seem irrational! [...]

Does Suffering-Focused Ethics Valorize the Void?

12.01.2026David Veldran

Posted in Suffering-Focused Ethics.

Richard Y. Chappell urges us not to “valorize” the void. According to Chappell, any adequate moral framework must recognize the existence of positive intrinsic goods and not focus solely on bads. Utopia, he contends, is clearly better than an empty void, and it should be table stakes for moral theories to acknowledge this.

Suffering-focused ethics (SFE) holds that reducing suffering is a foremost priority. It is primarily concerned with reducing bads rather than promoting goods. Given its focus on bads, one might wonder what suffering-focused ethicists think about empty voids. Might they “valorize” them? [...]

The Compensation Question

18.12.2025David Veldran

Posted in Uncategorized. Tagged suffering-focused ethics.

Can anything morally outweigh or compensate for extreme suffering? This simple question strikes at the heart of ethics. Yet too often, it is neglected. It may be hard to think about this question in the abstract. To bring it into focus, let us consider a few concrete cases.

The Drowning Child

Perhaps you have encountered Peter Singer’s drowning child thought experiment. You see a child struggling in a pond; you can save them easily, though it means you will ruin your expensive shoes. Plausibly, you ought to save the child. [...]

Many Roads Lead to Prioritizing Suffering Reduction

04.12.2025David Veldran

Posted in Suffering-Focused Ethics.

Many arrive at suffering-focused ethics (SFE) through a consequentialist lens, reflecting on how actions produce better or worse outcomes. From this perspective, one might recognize that suffering possesses a uniquely negative moral weight—a kind of disvalue that other states, including happiness, cannot counterbalance. Yet this is only one path to the view that reducing suffering should take moral priority. Many other plausible, and popular, moral frameworks converge on this priority. (This essay draws on Chapter 6 of Suffering-Focused Ethics.)

The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”—is often described as the most elemental and universal moral principle ever expressed. Found in the teachings of Confucius, Jesus, and the Buddha, it encodes a simple moral symmetry. When applied to suffering, this symmetry takes on its most profound meaning. Imagining ourselves in the grip of intense pain—agonized, trapped, or despairing—we would strongly want others to set aside almost everything else and help us escape. To live by the Golden Rule, then, is to recognize that others’ suffering demands the same moral urgency as our own. [...]

Building the Fortress

26.11.2025David Veldran

Posted in Suffering-Focused Ethics.

Reframing Suffering-Focused Ethics

By David Veldran

Many moral views and social projects present themselves as inherently positive and constructive. They aim to add something to the world, to create, to build. Classical utilitarians seek to increase happiness and bring about a surplus of joy over misery. Communists aspire to realize a classless society. Kantians, perhaps, aim to bring about the Kingdom of Ends, a world governed by mutual respect and rational duty. Each of these visions looks outward and forward—toward what might be created. [...]