An Alternative to Relativism
Philosophical Topics (Special Issue on Moral Disagreement) (Forthcoming)
| Abstract | Some moral disagreements are so persistent that we suspect they are deep: we would disagree even when we have all relevant information and no one makes any mistakes (this is also known as faultless disagreement). The possibility of deep disagreement is thought to drive cognitivists toward relativism, but most cognitivists reject relativism. There is an alternative. According to divergentism, cognitivists can reject relativism while allowing for deep disagreement. This view has rarely been defended at length, but many philosophers have implicitly endorsed its elements. I will defend it. | |||||||||
| Keywords | cognitive command deep disagreement disagreement disagreement epistemology ethics faultless disagreement metaethical relativism moral disagreement relativism weak cognitivism | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
  |
| External links | This entry has no external links. Add one. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJohn MacFarlane (2007). Relativism and Disagreement. Philosophical Studies 132 (1):17-31.
James Dreier (2009). Relativism (and Expressivism) and the Problem of Disagreement. Philosophical Perspectives 23 (1):79-110.
Max Kölbel (2003). Faultless Disagreement. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 104 (1):53–73.
Max Kölbel (2004). III-Faultless Disagreement. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 104 (1):53-73.
Ralph Wedgwood (2010). The Moral Evil Demons. In Richard Feldman & Ted Warfield (eds.), Disagreement. Oxford University Press.
Ragnar Francén (2010). No Deep Disagreement for New Relativists. Philosophical Studies 151:19--37.
Dan López de Sa (2007). The Many Relativisms and the Question of Disagreement. International Journal of Philosophical Studies 15 (2):269 – 279.
Robin McKenna (2012). Epistemic Contextualism, Epistemic Relativism and Disagreement. Philosophical Writings.
Teresa Marques (2013). Doxastic Disagreement. Erkenntnis.
Denis Robinson (2004). Failing to Agree or Failing to Disagree?: Personal Identity Quasi-Relativism. The Monist 87 (4):512-36.
Torfinn Thomesen Huvenes (2011). Varieties of Disagreement and Predicates of Taste. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 90 (1):167 - 181.
David Enoch (2009). How is Moral Disagreement a Problem for Realism? Journal of Ethics 13 (1):15 - 50.
Isidora Stojanovic (2007). Talking About Taste: Disagreement, Implicit Arguments, and Relative Truth. Linguistics and Philosophy 30 (6):691-706.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2012-11-23Total downloads82 ( #9,272 of 549,087 )Recent downloads (6 months)82 ( #149 of 549,087 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
