Moral circle expansion is the attempt to expand the perceived boundaries of the category of moral patients. It has been proposed as a priority cause area^[1] and as a heuristic for discovering cause X.^[2]

Evaluation

80,000 Hours rates promoting positive values a "potential highest priority area": an issue that, if more thoroughly examined, could rank as a top global challenge.^[3]

Further reading

Aird, Michael (2020) Collection of sources relevant to moral circles, moral boundaries, or their expansion, Effective Altruism Forum, May 7.
Many additional resources on this topic or related topics.

Anthis, Jacy Reese (2018) Why I prioritize moral circle expansion over artificial intelligence alignment, Effective Altruism Forum, February 20.

Karnofsky, Holden (2017) Radical empathy, Open Philanthropy, February 16.

Laham, Simon M. (2009) Expanding the moral circle: inclusion and exclusion mindsets and the circle of moral regard, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 45, pp. 250–253.

MacAskill, W. & Meissner, D. (2020) The expanding moral circle, in Introduction to Utilitarianism.

Singer, Peter (1981) The Expanding Circle: Ethics and Sociobiology, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Slinsky, Grue (2019) The moral circle is not a circle, Effective Altruism Forum, August 14.

Related entries

moral advocacy | moral patienthood | moral weight | speciesism | value lock-in

^{^}
Anthis, Jacy Reese & Eze Paez (2021) Moral circle expansion: A promising strategy to impact the far future, Futures, vol. 130, 104743.
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Vaughan, Kerry (2016) Three heuristics for finding cause X, Effective Altruism, November 4.
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80,000 Hours (2022) Our current list of pressing world problems, 80,000 Hours.