I thought the whole point of attributing moral significance to collective action was that, for some degree of this significance, it might be (i) obligatory for each member of collective to make a sacrifice that has an independent chance of reducing a small risk of extinction, when and because every person is doing their part to reduce th…
I thought the whole point of attributing moral significance to collective action was that, for some degree of this significance, it might be (i) obligatory for each member of collective to make a sacrifice that has an independent chance of reducing a small risk of extinction, when and because every person is doing their part to reduce the risk, but (ii) permissible for each member of collective to not make a sacrifice that has an independent chance of reducing a small risk of extinction, when and because a significantly large number of people are not doing their part to reduce the risk. If collectivity is significant in this way, it wouldn't follow from your examples that every individual ought to act to to reduce very small extinction risks just because they ought to act as part of a collective where everyone reduces these risks.
You're thinking about deontic status instead of rational choice (specifically, evaluating ex ante prospects). My argument is about the latter, not the former.
Ah okay, maybe I misunderstood what you meant when you said that the opportunity to independently reduce the risk of mass extinction by 1/X is "clearly worth taking." I understood this to mean that you thought it would be wrong for individuals not to take these risks.
I thought the whole point of attributing moral significance to collective action was that, for some degree of this significance, it might be (i) obligatory for each member of collective to make a sacrifice that has an independent chance of reducing a small risk of extinction, when and because every person is doing their part to reduce the risk, but (ii) permissible for each member of collective to not make a sacrifice that has an independent chance of reducing a small risk of extinction, when and because a significantly large number of people are not doing their part to reduce the risk. If collectivity is significant in this way, it wouldn't follow from your examples that every individual ought to act to to reduce very small extinction risks just because they ought to act as part of a collective where everyone reduces these risks.
What am I missing?
You're thinking about deontic status instead of rational choice (specifically, evaluating ex ante prospects). My argument is about the latter, not the former.
Ah okay, maybe I misunderstood what you meant when you said that the opportunity to independently reduce the risk of mass extinction by 1/X is "clearly worth taking." I understood this to mean that you thought it would be wrong for individuals not to take these risks.
Nah, I'm generally pretty uninterested in deontic status. Compare: https://rychappell.substack.com/p/impermissibility-is-overrated