Toby Ord
Encyclopedia
Toby Ord is an Australian philosopher. He is the founder of Giving What We Can
, an international society dedicated to the elimination of poverty in the developing world.
, where he initially studied Computer Science. On completing his first degree, he switched to studying Philosophy in order to pursue his interest in ethics: "At this stage I knew that I wanted to make a large positive difference in the world and it seemed that studying ethics would help.”
For his graduate studies, Ord moved to the University of Oxford
, where he obtained both a B.Phil, and a D.Phil in Philosophy. Having submitted his doctoral thesis, ‘Beyond Action: applying consequentialism to decision making and motivation’, Ord was retained as a Junior Research Fellow by Balliol College, Oxford. Alongside his main academic post, Ord also holds positions at Oxford University's Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Future of Humanity Institute
. He has published widely on ethics and the philosophy of computation. His research interests include questions around global poverty, moral uncertainty and catastrophic risks.
In 2009, Ord launched Giving What We Can
, an international society whose members have each pledged to donate at least 10% of their income to anti-poverty charities. The organization seeks not only to encourage people to give more of their money to charity, but also stresses the importance of giving to cost-effective charities, arguing that "research shows that some are up to 10,000 times as effective as others" While it does not collect money or undertake charity work directly, Giving What We Can carries out original research and recommends charities it believes to be particularly efficient. Ord remains director of Giving What We Can, and is closely involved in its day-to-day running.
Ord himself decided initially to cap his income at £20 000 per year, and to give away everything he earned above that to Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, one of Giving What We Can's recommended charities. A year later, he revised this figure down to £18 000. Over the course of his career he expects his donations to total around £1 million.
Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can is an international society for the promotion of poverty relief, in particular in the developing world.Founded by moral philosopher Dr Toby Ord in November 2009, Giving What We Can is not a charity itself: the aims of the organisation are instead to encourage people to commit to...
, an international society dedicated to the elimination of poverty in the developing world.
Career
Ord attended the University of MelbourneUniversity of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, where he initially studied Computer Science. On completing his first degree, he switched to studying Philosophy in order to pursue his interest in ethics: "At this stage I knew that I wanted to make a large positive difference in the world and it seemed that studying ethics would help.”
For his graduate studies, Ord moved to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he obtained both a B.Phil, and a D.Phil in Philosophy. Having submitted his doctoral thesis, ‘Beyond Action: applying consequentialism to decision making and motivation’, Ord was retained as a Junior Research Fellow by Balliol College, Oxford. Alongside his main academic post, Ord also holds positions at Oxford University's Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Future of Humanity Institute
Future of Humanity Institute
The Future of Humanity Institute is part of the Faculty of Philosophy and the James Martin 21st Century School at University of Oxford, England...
. He has published widely on ethics and the philosophy of computation. His research interests include questions around global poverty, moral uncertainty and catastrophic risks.
Giving What We Can
At Oxford, Ord resolved to give a significant proportion of his income to the most cost-effective charities he could find. Following a number of enquiries from people interested in making a similar commitment, Ord decided to set up an organization geared towards supporting like-minded donors.In 2009, Ord launched Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can is an international society for the promotion of poverty relief, in particular in the developing world.Founded by moral philosopher Dr Toby Ord in November 2009, Giving What We Can is not a charity itself: the aims of the organisation are instead to encourage people to commit to...
, an international society whose members have each pledged to donate at least 10% of their income to anti-poverty charities. The organization seeks not only to encourage people to give more of their money to charity, but also stresses the importance of giving to cost-effective charities, arguing that "research shows that some are up to 10,000 times as effective as others" While it does not collect money or undertake charity work directly, Giving What We Can carries out original research and recommends charities it believes to be particularly efficient. Ord remains director of Giving What We Can, and is closely involved in its day-to-day running.
Ord himself decided initially to cap his income at £20 000 per year, and to give away everything he earned above that to Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, one of Giving What We Can's recommended charities. A year later, he revised this figure down to £18 000. Over the course of his career he expects his donations to total around £1 million.