Irrealism and the Genealogy of Morals

Ratio 26 (4):351-372 (2013)
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Abstract

Facts about the evolutionary origins of morality may have some kind of undermining effect on morality, yet the arguments that advocate this view are varied not only in their strategies but in their conclusions. The most promising such argument is modest: it attempts to shift the burden of proof in the service of an epistemological conclusion. This paper principally focuses on two other debunking arguments. First, I outline the prospects of trying to establish an error theory on genealogical grounds. Second, I discuss how a debunking strategy can work even under the assumption that noncognitivism is true.

Other Versions

reprint Joyce, Richard (2014) "Irrealism and the genealogy of morals". In Streumer, Bart, Irrealism in Ethics, pp. 1–22: Wiley-Blackwell (2014)

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Richard Joyce
Victoria University of Wellington

Citations of this work

Debunking Concepts.Matthieu Queloz - 2023 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 47 (1):195-225.
Moral anti-realism.Richardn D. Joyce - 2015 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Morality and Evolutionary Biology.William Fitzpatrick - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The tale of a moderate normative skeptic.Brendan Cline - 2018 - Philosophical Studies 175 (1):141-161.

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References found in this work

Truth and objectivity.Crispin Wright - 1992 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
A Darwinian dilemma for realist theories of value.Sharon Street - 2006 - Philosophical Studies 127 (1):109-166.
The Myth of Morality.Richard Joyce - 2001 - New York: Cambridge University Press.

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