A LEADING academic has come out in support of independence, predicting that Scotland could become a “world leader” in ethical politics.
Glasgow-born William MacAskill, an internationally renowned philosopher based at Oxford University, has said he backs a second referendum and would back Yes in another vote.
MacAskill, 35, recently made the cover of Time magazine, and has attracted praise from Microsoft mastermind Bill Gates as well as advising former prime minister Gordon Brown.
Speaking to The National, MacAskill said he believed independence would allow both Scotland and England to pursue their own political priorities.
He said: “I'm in favour of a second referendum, and in favour of Scotland becoming an independent country if the majority of people vote in favour.
“Personally, I'd vote in favour of independence. The key arguments on my mind are: One - Scottish and English political cultures are different, so independence enables each country to get more of what they want.
"Two - a greater diversity of political cultures, and political experimentation, is good for the world overall.”
MacAskill, who has been hailed as the leader of the effective altruism school of thought, added that Scotland could lead the world in implementing its key tenets.
Effective altruism is philosophy that has had huge influence in US tech and venture capitalist circles since it was popularised by MacAskill’s 2015 book Doing Good Better.
At its core, it is the belief that charitable giving or investment should be directed to benefit causes and projects which have the evidence and data to prove they will work and do the most good for society generally.
MacAskill added: “I'd love to see effective altruism have more influence in all countries, and I think that Scotland could be a world leader in some of the issues I talk about.
“I pitched Nicola Sturgeon on the importance of pandemic preparedness in 2017.
“In particular, given the tiny amounts of money and attention going into issues like pandemic preparedness or AI safety, technological investment by the Scottish Government could not only make Scotland an attractive hub for scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs - it could also have a transformative positive impact over the world.”
MacAskill, who was educated at Hutcheson’s Grammar School in the south side of Glasgow, is widely credited with kickstarting interest in effective altruism and is also the vice-president of Giving What We Can, a charity which directs money to causes based on the philosophy’s principles which has overseen donations of $290 million to good causes.
He advocates giving away a large proportion of earnings and lives on £26,000 per year, donating the rest of his income to good causes.
Around $46 billion has been committed to causes determined by effective altruism, according to an estimation by 80,000 Hours, a firm set up by MacAskill to allow jobseekers to find work which is socially useful.
Some of the philosophy’s teachings turn received wisdom on its head, such as MacAskill’s arguments that buying sweatshop-produced goods generally reduces poverty because the alternatives are worse or that buying Fairtrade is not an effective way to ensure a better deal for Third World farmers.
