Description

The challenges we face are enormous. But we can still secure a positive future for our planet, and for everyone on it.

In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill persuasively argues for longtermism, the idea that positively influencing the distant future is a moral priority of our time. It isn’t enough to mitigate climate change or avert the next pandemic. We can ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed; cultivate value pluralism; and prepare for a planet where the most sophisticated beings are digital and not human.

‘Unapologetically optimistic and bracingly realistic, this is the most inspiring book on ‘ethical living’ I’ve ever read.’ Oliver Burkeman, Guardian

‘A monumental event.’ Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind

‘A book of great daring, clarity, insight and imagination. To be simultaneously so realistic and so optimistic, and always so damn readable… well that is a miracle for which he should be greatly applauded.’ Stephen Fry

Publisher Review

'This book is a monumental event. William MacAskill is one of the most important philosophers alive today, and this is his magnum opus.' -- Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind 'No living philosopher has had a greater impact upon my ethics than Will MacAskill. And much of the good I now do is the direct result of his influence. In What We Owe The Future, MacAskill has transformed my thinking once again, by patiently dismantling the lazy intuitions that rendered me morally blind to the interests of future generations. This is an altogether thrilling and necessary book.' -- Sam Harris 'I was captivated by MacAskill's rolling out of the possibilities of a longtermist approach to the now. It is vital to do as he does, to take ethics out of the safety of lecture-hall thought experiments, paradoxes and what-ifs and into the turbulent real world, where the dynamic winds of history blow and where is massing on the horizon that monstrous, swelling tsunami that we call the future. This is a book of great daring, clarity, insight and imagination. To be simultaneously so realistic and so optimistic, and always so damned readable... well that is a miracle for which he should be greatly applauded.' -- Stephen Fry 'Whether he's arguing that having children is on balance a positive thing to do for the planet's future, or advising us to pay more attention to how our career choices can help us play a part, he's never less than compelling. And indeed since I read it, I've scarcely stopped thinking about it.' -- Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller, Book of the Month 'An optimistic look at the future that moved me to tears' -- Joseph Gordon-Levitt 'Many books promise a new "big idea", but few deliver one as brilliant as MacAskill's in What We Owe The Future. A fascinating, profound read.' -- Julia Galef 'What We Owe The Future brilliantly shows us the biggest picture of all and persuasively reminds us of the vast impact we can all have.' -- Tim Urban 'What We Owe The Future makes the case for thinking seriously about the very long term. It gives a profoundly new perspective on human civilization and our place in it.' -- Lydia Cacho 'There are moments when we can change outcomes easily, but if we don't bend those curves right then, we can lock in enormous longterm damage. This fascinating book makes us think relentlessly and usefully about such pivot points; few prods could be more important.' -- Bill McKibben 'This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that.' -- Ezra Klein 'The decisions we make this century are like no other; either we go extinct by our own hand, or we lay the path to the stars. What We Owe The Future is our guidebook to navigating this critical moment.' -- Liv Boeree 'A brilliant book that makes clear both how much is at stake when it comes to the long term, and the incredible opportunities we have to shape it. It has changed how I think about my time on earth.' -- Max Roser 'Should we care about people who don't yet exist - the billions who will live in the future? Or is it better to help people living now? This mind-bending, eon-hurtling, visionary, masterful book raises questions that are among the most crucial we face as a species. MacAskill makes a moral case for the future that is urgent, clear, and utterly convincing.' -- Larissa MacFarquhar, author of Strangers Drowning 'I expected William MacAskill to write a forceful and persuasive argument for caring more about future people and this book did not disappoint. But it's so much more - What We Owe The Future is an engaged and deeply original exploration of questions ranging from the contingency of moral progress, to the perils of AI, to the very nature of a happy and fulfilled life. It's an important, stimulating, and delightful book.' -- Paul Bloom