Brown on Mackie: Echoes of the Lottery Paradox
Philosophia 41 (3):751-755 (2013)
Abstract |
In “The possibility of morality,” Phil Brown considers whether moral error theory is best understood as a necessary or contingent thesis. Among other things, Brown contends that the argument from relativity, offered by John Mackie—error theory’s progenitor—supports a stronger modal reading of error theory. His argument is as follows: Mackie’s is an abductive argument that error theory is the best explanation for divergence in moral practices. Since error theory will likewise be the best explanation for similar divergences in possible worlds similar to our own, we may conclude that error theory is true at all such worlds, just as it is in the actual world. I contend that Brown’s argument must fail, as abductive arguments cannot support the modal conclusions he suggests. I then consider why this is the case, concluding that Brown has stumbled upon new and interesting evidence that agglomerating one’s beliefs can be epistemically problematic—an issue associated most famously with Henry Kyburg’s lottery paradox
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Keywords | Abduction Error theory Lottery paradox John Mackie |
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DOI | 10.1007/s11406-012-9397-y |
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How to Be an Error Theorist About Morality.Simon Robertson - 2008 - Polish Journal of Philosophy 2 (2):107-125.
Beyond the Error Theory.Michael Smith - 2010 - In Richard Joyce & Simon Kirchin (eds.), A World Without Values. Springer.
A Tension in the Moral Error Theory.Simon Kirchin - 2010 - In Richard Joyce & Simon Kirchin (eds.), A World Without Values: Essays on John Mackie's Moral Error Theory.
Review of David Sobel and Steven Wall, Reasons for Action. [REVIEW]Bart Streumer - 2011 - Analysis 71 (1):200-202.
Moral Error Theory and the Argument From Epistemic Reasons.Richard Rowland - 2013 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 7 (1):1-24.
The Error in the Error Theory.Stephen Finlay - 2008 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 86 (3):347-369.
The Error In 'The Error In The Error Theory'.Richard Joyce - 2011 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 89 (3):519-534.
Errors Upon Errors: A Reply to Joyce.Stephen Finlay - 2011 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 89 (3):535 - 547.
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