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William MacAskill - Wikipedia
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MacAskill is a central figure in the EA and longtermist communities that have heavily funded and shaped AI safety research priorities; understanding his background provides context for the philosophical and philanthropic ecosystem surrounding AI safety.
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Summary
Wikipedia biography of William MacAskill, a Scottish philosopher and associate professor at Oxford who co-founded the effective altruism movement and longtermism. He is known for founding organizations like 80,000 Hours and the Centre for Effective Altruism, and authored influential books including 'What We Owe the Future.' His work significantly intersects with AI safety through his advocacy for prioritizing existential risk reduction.
Key Points
- •Co-founded the effective altruism movement and key EA organizations including 80,000 Hours and the Centre for Effective Altruism
- •Associate Professor of Philosophy at Oxford, known for developing and popularizing longtermism
- •Authored 'What We Owe the Future' (2022), arguing future generations' wellbeing should be a top moral priority
- •His philosophical work on existential risk directly informs AI safety prioritization within the EA community
- •Instrumental in directing significant philanthropic funding toward AI safety research through EA networks
Cited by 2 pages
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| 80,000 Hours | Organization | 45.0 |
| Will MacAskill | Person | 60.0 |
2 FactBase facts citing this source
| Entity | Property | Value | As Of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will MacAskill | Birth Year | 1987 | — |
| Will MacAskill | Education | DPhil in Philosophy, St. Anne's College, Oxford (2014); BA, Cambridge; studied at Princeton | — |
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William MacAskill - Wikipedia
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scottish philosopher and ethicist (born 1987)
William MacAskill MacAskill in 2015 Born William David Crouch
( 1987-03-24 ) 24 March 1987 (age 39)
Glasgow , Scotland Spouse
Amanda Askell   ​ (divorced) ​ [ 1 ] Education Education
Jesus College, Cambridge ( BA , 2008)
St Edmund Hall, Oxford ( BPhil , 2010)
St Anne's College, Oxford ( DPhil , 2014)
Thesis Normative Uncertainty  (2014) Doctoral advisors
Krister Bykvist
John Broome
Philosophical work Era Contemporary philosophy Region Western philosophy Institutions
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Lincoln College, Oxford
Global Priorities Institute
Main interests Ethics
political philosophy
decision theory
philosophy and economics [ citation needed ]
utilitarianism
Notable ideas Effective altruism
longtermism
Website williammacaskill .com
William David MacAskill ( né Crouch ; born 24 March 1987) [ 2 ] is a Scottish philosopher and author, as well as one of the originators of the effective altruism movement. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] He was a Research Fellow at the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford , co-founded Giving What We Can , the Centre for Effective Altruism and 80,000 Hours , [ 6 ] and is the author of Doing Good Better (2015) [ 7 ] and What We Owe the Future (2022), [ 8 ] and the co-author of Moral Uncertainty (2020). [ 9 ]
Early life and education
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MacAskill was born William Crouch in 1987 and grew up in Glasgow . [ 1 ] [ 5 ] [ 10 ] He was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow. [ 11 ] At the age of 15, after learning about how many people were dying as a result of AIDS , he made the decision to work towards becoming wealthy and giving away half of his money. [ 12 ] At the age of 18, MacAskill read Peter Singer 's 1972 essay " Famine, Affluence, and Morality ", which motivated his philosophical and charitable interests. [ 5 ]
MacAskill earned his BA in philosophy at Jesus College, Cambridge in 2008 and BPhil at St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 2010. He went on to be awarded a DPhil at St Anne's College, Oxford in 2014 (spending a year as a visiting student at Princeton University ), supervised by John Broome and Krister Bykvist  [ sv ] . [ citation needed ] He then took up a junior research fellowship at Emmanuel College, Cambridge , [ 13 ] before being elected to an associate professorship at the University of Oxford in association with a Fellowship at Lincoln College, Oxford , which he left after one year. [ 14 ]
Career
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Effective altruism
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