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Title
Moral Realism, Meta-Ethical Pyrrhonism and Naturalism
Series
Philosophical Studies Series
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008:
Author(s)
Publication Date
2008
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008
Abstract
This paper argues that naturalistic moral realism is vulnerable to a 'Hard Problem' that has gone largely unrecognised. This problem is to explain how natural moral properties are detected by the folk. I argue that Thomas Nagel's persuasive case for moral realism founded on the priority of first-order moral evaluations over second-order reflection is not conclusive - a certain type of moral agnosticism which I call Meta-Ethical Pyrrhonism can account for our inability to think of first-order moral evaluations as merely subjective or relative. Although unsatisfactory as metaphysics, Meta-Ethical Pyrrhonism is arguably all that a moral naturalist is entitled to by way of a meta-ethical theory.
Publication Type
Book Chapter
Source of Publication
Moral Psychology Today: Essays on Values, Rational Choice and the Will, p. 17-36
Publisher
Springer
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
HERDC Category Description
ISBN
9781402068713
1402068719
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