Time Bias and Altruism

Leora Urim Sung (University College London)

GPI Working Paper No. 17-2023, winner of the ECCP 2022 Paper Prize

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We are typically near-future biased, being more concerned with our near future than our distant future. This near-future bias can be directed at others too, being more concerned with their near future than their distant future. In this paper, I argue that, because we discount the future in this way, beyond a certain point in time, we morally ought to be more concerned with the present well- being of others than with the well-being of our distant future selves. It follows that we morally ought to sacrifice our distant-future well-being in order to relieve the present suffering of others. I argue that this observation is particularly relevant for the ethics of charitable giving, as the decision to give to charity usually means a reduction in our distant-future well-being rather than our immediate well-being.

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