Update to my philosophy: less resolutely materialist and utilitarian
Like many people with my demographics, I’ve long had strongly materialist and utilitarian philosophical intuitions. I think empirical science is a good way to learn about the world; material explanations suffice for most phenomena we encounter in everyday life; more people having more well-being is better than fewer people have less well-being. But over the last two-ish years, these intuitions have unmistakably softened. I attribute this change to several causes, roughly ordered:
- My friend Doug Kremm, a wise and patient philosopher;
- Philosophy and philosophers I’ve encountered through Effective Altruist-adjacent media, especially Eric Schwitzgebel;
- General contemplation and mellowing with age.