What We Owe the Future is a 2022 book by William MacAskill. The book makes the case for longtermism—defined as the view that positively affecting the long-run future is a key moral priority of our time—and explores what follows from that view.

Summary

The book makes the case for longtermism and proposes that we can make the future better in two ways: "by averting permanent catastrophes, thereby ensuring civilisation’s survival; or by changing civilisation’s trajectory to make it better while it lasts...Broadly, ensuring survival increases the quantity of future life; trajectory changes increase its quality".^:35–36

Part 1: Longtermism

Part 1 introduces and advocates for longtermism, which MacAskill defines as "the idea that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time."^: 4 This part of the book also describes how we, the current generation, can shape the future through our actions.^: 29...

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