NEW YORK, NY – NYU philosophy professor Jeff Sebo has published “The Moral Circle: Who Matters, What Matters, and Why,” arguing that humans should care about insects, artificial intelligence systems, and tiny life forms called microbes when making moral decisions.
The book, released January 28, 2025, by W.W. Norton & Company, challenges the idea that humans are more important than all other living things. Sebo says that because technology and human actions affect so many different life forms, we need new ways of thinking about right and wrong that include creatures we usually ignore.
Sebo works as Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and runs the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection at New York University. He has written other books about saving animals and studied how human decisions affect different species around the world.
Book Says Humans Should Care About Trillions More Living Things
Sebo argues that current moral thinking focuses only on human needs while ignoring trillions of other living things affected by human activities. The book shows how humans use hundreds of billions of animals with backbones and trillions of insects and other small creatures every year, often without thinking about whether these creatures can suffer.
The numbers are enormous: trillions means thousands of billions. For example, there are an estimated 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive at any time on Earth. Sebo argues that if even a small percentage of these creatures can feel pain or have experiences that matter, humans should consider their welfare in moral decisions.
“I set out to show that we should include insects and future AI systems in the moral circle, and yet I now feel compelled to add microbes, current AI systems, and many other beings too,” Sebo writes, explaining how his ideas grew bigger while writing the book.
Examples Include Elephant Court Cases and Insect Farms
The book uses real examples to show how difficult it is to expand moral thinking, including court cases where captive elephants tried to get legal rights like people, and debates about farming insects for food. These examples show how current laws and moral systems struggle to protect non-human interests.
Sebo also looks at future situations involving space travel, such as whether to send microbes to other planets to make them suitable for humans, and whether it is right to create digital worlds filled with artificial minds that might be able to think and feel.
AI Gets Special Attention in the Book
The book spends a lot of time on artificial intelligence ethics, arguing that future AI systems may develop consciousness or the ability to feel, which would mean they deserve moral care. Sebo suggests that how humans treat AI systems today could affect how advanced AI systems treat humans if they become more powerful or intelligent.
“We should act ethically today so that future AI systems will behave ethically if they escape our control,” Sebo argues, connecting current AI development practices to long-term safety for human civilization.
Reviewers Praise Ideas But Note Problems
Professional book reviewers have recognized the book’s contribution to moral philosophy while noting that the ideas would be hard to put into practice. Peter Singer called it “a significant contribution to the debate on expanding moral consideration,” while Kirkus Reviews called it “a thoughtful unsettling of moral certainty.”
New Scientist reviewer Michael Marshall praised the work as “clear, thought-provoking, and well-argued” but questioned whether expanding moral care is the right priority when humans still struggle with human rights. Some readers have noted that academic language makes some parts hard to understand for regular readers.
The book has been chosen for “The Next Big Idea Club’s January 2025 Must-Read Books,” a list created by well-known authors Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink. This shows the book is getting attention beyond university philosophy departments.
“The Moral Circle: Who Matters, What Matters, and Why” is published by W.W. Norton & Company, available in hard copy and digital formats. The work represents Sebo’s effort to make complex philosophical arguments understandable to readers interested in practical ethics and moral decision-making.
Key Takeaways
- Sebo argues humans should expand moral care to include insects, microbes, and AI systems affected by technology development and environmental changes.
- Book uses real court cases and farming examples to show practical challenges of using broader ethical thinking in current systems.
- Critics praise philosophical thinking while noting accessibility challenges and questions about timing given ongoing human rights problems.
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