Meanings
- uncountableethicsAn ethical theory which prioritizes improving the conditions of the present and near future, rather than thinking about the distant future (as in longtermism).
Longtermists are in daily conversation with neartermists. It’s a red herring to argue that “abandoning what would most help people on Earth today isn’t exactly ethically sound.”
2022 September 9, Theodore Leinwand, “Neartermism and longtermism aren’t at odds”, in The Washington Post1 more example
Effective altruists talk about both “neartermism” and “longtermism.” […] This question is like an inflection point between neartermism and longtermism. MacAskill cites the philosopher Derek Parfit, whose ideas about population ethics in his 1984 book “Reasons and Persons” have been influential in E.A.
2022 December 9, Jennifer Szalai, “Effective Altruism Warned of Risks. Did It Also Incentivize Them?”, in The New York TimesAntonyms: longtermism
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn ethical theory which prioritizes improving the conditions of the present and near future, rather than thinking about the distant future (as in longtermism).
Origin
Cite this entry
neartermism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neartermism
“neartermism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neartermism. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neartermism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neartermism.
Source: neartermism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.