The Effective Altruism Handbook
by Effective Altruism Forum / Centre for Effective Altruism · Effective Altruism Forum
The free reading curriculum of the EA Introductory Program. It has eight chapters and 89 readings with exercises: the effectiveness mindset, differences in impact, moral concern for animals, existential risk, longtermism, AI risk, a chapter of critical reflection, and applying EA to careers and giving. This is the canonical starting syllabus. It covers every part of the topic note except deep charity-evaluation methods, and it gives a whole chapter to critique. It works as the backbone that the other resources extend.
More resources on Effective Altruism
Effective Altruism and its Critics
Iason Gabriel's peer-reviewed assessment of the main objections to effective altruism: that it neglects equality, urgency and rights; that its preference for measurable interventions is methodologically biased; and that it underrates systemic change. For each he judges which objections succeed.
The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity
Toby Ord estimates the probability of human extinction or unrecoverable collapse this century from natural risks, nuclear war, climate change, engineered pandemics and unaligned AI. He argues that safeguarding humanity's long-term potential is a key moral priority. Long technical appendices support the estimates. Doing Good Better covers the near-term side, so the two books do not overlap.
GiveWell: Our Criteria for Evaluating Charities
GiveWell's statement of its four grantmaking criteria: evidence of effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, room for more funding and transparency. It also sets the extra bar for top charities. The page links into GiveWell's published cost-effectiveness models and intervention reports. Other charity-evaluation explainers are summaries of this.
Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices about Giving Back
William MacAskill's 2015 introduction to effective altruism. This is the clearest statement of EA's practical framework. It sets out five key questions for judging a way of doing good: how many benefit and by how much, whether it is the most effective option, whether the area is neglected, what happens otherwise, and the odds of success. These are applied to charities, careers, ethical consumption and sweatshops.
Famine, Affluence, and Morality
Peter Singer's 1972 essay in Philosophy & Public Affairs. It argues that if we can prevent something very bad without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought to. Distance does not matter, so affluent people are obliged to give far more to famine relief.