This lesson will cover suffering risks (s-risks), or future events that have the potential to produce immense suffering. It will contrast s-risks with x-risks (extinction risks), suffering-based ethics, examples of s-risks, and how to respond to the claim that we should prioritize suffering over happiness and s-risks over x-risks.
This lesson is by Amadea Datel, a student & debater at Dartmouth College.
This section will introduce the concepts of existential risks and suffering risks, including the tensions between the two.
Activity #1
Video 1
Suffering-Focused Ethics
This section will present justifications for the moral view that we should prioritize preventing s-risks over all other risks.
Activity #2
Video 2
Activity #3
Examples and Implications
This section will provide examples of the most frequently discussed s-risks and discuss their implications.
Activity #4
Video 3
Responses
This section will discuss responses to the moral view that s-risks come first, attacking both the ideas that suffering always outweighs and that the s-risks themselves will outweigh x-risks.