The Global Priorities Institute is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Oxford.
Our aim is to conduct foundational research that informs the decision-making of individuals and institutions seeking to do as much good as possible. We prioritise topics which are important, neglected, and tractable, and use the tools of multiple disciplines, especially philosophy and economics, to explore the issues at stake.
The central focus of GPI is what we call ‘global priorities research’: research into issues that arise in response to the question, ‘What should we do with a given amount of limited resources if our aim is to do the most good?’ This question naturally draws upon central themes in the fields of economics and philosophy.
We divide our research agenda as follows.
The first section outlines what we call the longtermism paradigm. This paradigm centres around the idea that because of the potential vastness of the future portion of the history of sentient life, it may well be that the primary determinant of which actions are best is the effects of those actions on the very long-run future, rather than on more immediate considerations. Because these ideas seem plausible, seem likely to have fairly radically revisionary implications if correct, and are currently quite neglected, this is the main focus of GPI’s own research (at the time of writing and, we predict, for at least the next two years). We are particularly keen to hear from other researchers who share this interest.
The second section is on general issues in cause prioritisation. This covers issues that are not specific to a longtermist point of view, but that arise for agents engaged in an exercise of global prioritisation. The intended audience for this research agenda is academics (especially, but not only, in economics and philosophy) who are potentially interested in working with GPI, whether as GPI researchers or as external collaborators, or who are otherwise interested in the same mission.
Related Institutions
University of Oxford
- Global Priorities Institute, University of Oxford
- Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
- Centre for Business Taxation, University of Oxford
- Energy and Power Group, University of Oxford
- Oxford Department of International Development, Oxford University
- Nuffield College Centre for Applied Macro Policy (NuCamp)
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford
- Technology and Management Centre for Development, University of Oxford
- Nuffield Centre for Experimental Social Sciences
- New College, Oxford University
- Nuffield College Centre for Applied Macro Policy (NuCamp)
- Oxford Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
- Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
- Oxford University Press
- Department of Economics, University of Oxford
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford
- Biomedical Sciences, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford
- Department of Education, University of Oxford
- Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford
- Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
- Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
- Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford
- Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford
- Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Oxford University
- Health Economics Research Centre (HERC), University of Oxford
- Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford
Contact Information
gpi-office@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Contact Email
(+44) (0)1865 286891
Contact Phone
Location
Littlegate House
OX1 1PT Oxford , United Kingdom
