Philosophers Against Malaria: Philosophy Department Fundraising Competition
Philosofriends, here’s an opportunity to do some good.
Once again, Malte Hendrickx, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Michigan, has set up a charity “competition” for philosophy departments to raise money for the Against Malaria Foundation. He says:
There’s no lever, no bystanders, and no tracks—just a mosquito net between a child and a parasite. Bed nets stop malaria; malaria stops lives; you stop reading this and donate some bed nets. Consequentialists and deontologists approve, virtue ethicists call it a habit worth cultivating, skeptics shrug and donate anyway.
Every year, philosophy departments around the world enter a friendly ‘competition’ to raise money for bed nets that protect people from malaria. Malaria kills more than a thousand children each day. These deaths are as unnecessary as they are tragic. So, every year during the festive season, philosophers put ethical quarrels, exotic thought experiments, and devastating objections aside for a minute to pitch in for those less fortunate than them.
Here are the details:
You can access the fundraiser here.
Sharing the fundraiser via social media, mailing lists, or other means is highly encouraged!
All donations are tax-deductible, and 100% of donations go to the purchase of long-lasting insecticidal bed nets. Long-lasting insecticidal nets cost around $2 and provide effective protection to the households that receive them.
The Against Malaria Foundation has an excellent track record in distributing such bed nets. In the last 19 years, the 250 million nets they funded and distributed protected 450 million people. It is estimated that this translates to roughly 185,000 deaths prevented, and 100 to 185 million cases of malaria averted. It is also estimated to have led to an improvement of US$6.5 billion in local economies since malaria is a crucial factor in reducing the productivity of those it affects. AMF has been rated as a top charity by GiveWell, a charity evaluator, each year since 2009.
Previous editions of this heated competition funded 28.853 bednets and had Oxford (2022), Michigan (2023) and Delaware (2024) be declared winners.
If your department isn’t yet listed on the fundraising page, you can add it by clicking, after the list of departments, where is says “Create your own sponsorship page, linked to this one.”
The results of the charity competition will be announced later this month. Good luck everyone!
It’s worth highlighting that, according to some estimates, some 600,000 lives have already been lost as a result of USAID’s dismantling earlier this year. One of USAID’s most effective initiatives was the President’s Malaria Initiative, without which there will be an additional 7 million child malaria cases per year. Most of those children survive, but many will suffer lasting developmental harm. (This is in addition to the nearly half million who typically die from malaria every year.)
As their website points out, AMF has been rated as one of the most effective charities in the world by independent charity evaluators every year since 2008. It’s a truly fantastic organization. Even EA / foreign aid critics like Larry Temkin agree: “I have nothing bad to say about the Against Malaria Foundation, and have, myself, contributed to that organization for a number of years.” (Quote from Being Good in a World of Need.)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s description of growing up with malaria:
Thank you, Malte, for organizing this!
MIT is to be commended!