This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Very often we're uncertain about what we ought, morally, to do. We don't know how to weigh the interests of animals against humans, how strong our duties are to improve the lives of distant strangers, or how to think about the ethics of bringing new people into exist...

In this urgent and “thrillingly written” book, there is a case and solution for humanity’s last shot at survival (Sunday Times).**Humanity’s future is at risk. We face existential catastrophes, climate change, nuclear war, and more. If we do not act fast to reach a place of safety, it will soon be too late.Drawing on over a decade of research, The Precipice explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. And it points the way ...

What existential threats does humanity face? And how can we secure our future?'The Precipice is a powerful book . . . Ord's love for humanity and hope for its future is infectious' Spectator'Ord's analysis of the science is exemplary . . . Thrillingly written' Sunday TimesWe live during the most important era of human history. In the twentieth century, we d...

From one of the world’s leading moral voices, this urgent and eye-opening book makes the case thatprotecting humanity’s future is the central challenge of our time.If all goes well, human history is just beginning. Our species could survive for billions of years—enough time toend disease, poverty, and injustice, and to flourish in ways unimaginable today. But this vast future is at risk. With theadvent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we fa...