People

notes.pjh.is · by Peter's notes · clipped 2025-11-04

Clipped from the web into my Obsidian; formatting may be imperfect.

An incomplete list of people who have influenced my worldview. Each entry includes some remarks and suggested entry points.

I’m writing these mostly for myself, as an exercise in reflection and appreciation.

Nick Bostrom shaped my career.
Tyler Cowen inspires me with his breadth, his commitment to excellence, and his Stubborn Attachments.
Friedrich Nietzsche exemplifies and inspires my most fundamental values—intellectual conscience, love of life, and good spirits.
Holden Karnofsky ‘s style of practical reasoning has made Open Philanthropy, and the effective altruism movement, far better than it otherwise might have been.
Robin Hanson peers into the future through the lens of competition and selection.
Stewart Brand and Brian Eno are great artists of futurism and responsibility.
Bernard Williams, Susan Wolf and Samuel Scheffler share the view that impartial axiology is a mistake—a conservative commitment to what we happen to be should come in somewhere.
Even Derek Parfit and [Henry Sidgwick] failed to present a compelling case for moral non-naturalism, thus helping me settle that question in my own mind.
Joshua Greene has a good story of moral naturalism, and recasts utilitarianism in a more compelling form.
Agnes Callard seeks a better understanding of aspiration and character development.
David Runciman helped me understand Bentham, and other key figures in the history of ideas.