Reid on the Autonomy of Ethics: From Active Power to Moral Nonnaturalism

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-541
Author(s):  
TERENCE CUNEO ◽  
RANDALL HARP
Keyword(s):  
Moral Realism ◽  
Active Power ◽  
Thomas Reid ◽  
Kantian View ◽  
Autonomy Of Ethics ◽  
Open Question

ABSTRACT:Thomas Reid has the unusual distinction of arriving at a metaethical position very much like G. E. Moore's via a route very similar to that employed by the Kantians. That is, Reid embraces a version of nonnaturalist moral realism by appeal not to open question-style considerations but to a particular account of agency. In this essay, we reconstruct Reid's agency-centered argument for his constitutivist version of moral nonnaturalism, highlighting its commitments. Having presented Reid's argument, we close by considering a prominent contemporary Kantian view, namely, Christine Korsgaard's, and identifying where, despite their common commitments, Reid and Korsgaard part company. The comparison, we suggest, is instructive because it allows us to see more clearly why the link between agency-centered approaches to ethical theorizing and nonrealist, constitutivist views of morality, such as Korsgaard's, is deeply contingent.

'Can a Philosophical Justification of Ethics Be Autonomous While Acknowledging the Role of God in Grounding Moral Facts?'

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Christoph Halbig
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Moral Realism ◽  
Human Autonomy ◽  
Special Challenge ◽  
Autonomy Of Ethics ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
Moral Facts

Autonomy and ethics are related to each other in complex ways. The paper starts by distinguishing and characterizing three basic dimensions of this relation. It proceeds by arguing for the compatibility of moral realism with a due respect for human autonomy. Nevertheless, supernaturalist moral realism seems to pose a special challenge for the autonomy of ethics as a self-standing normative realm. The paper ends with some considerations on the role of divine authority both in metaethics and in the general theory of value.

Thomas Reid on active power and free agency

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-389
Author(s):  
Xiangdong Xu
Keyword(s):  
Active Power ◽  
Free Agency ◽  
Thomas Reid

Realism, Naturalism, and Moral Semantics

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
David O. Brink
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Moral Realism ◽  
Direct Reference ◽  
Ethical Naturalism ◽  
Moral Beliefs ◽  
First Approximation ◽  
Open Question Argument ◽  
The World ◽  
Open Question

The prospects for moral realism and ethical naturalism have been important parts of recent debates within metaethics. As a first approximation,moral realismis the claim that there are facts or truths about moral matters that are objective in the sense that they obtain independently of the moral beliefs or attitudes of appraisers.Ethical naturalismis the claim that moral properties of people, actions, and institutions are natural, rather than occult or supernatural, features of the world. Though these metaethical debates remain unsettled, several people, myself included, have tried to defend the plausibility of both moral realism and ethical naturalism. I, among others, have appealed to recent work in the philosophy of language—in particular, to so-called theories of “direct reference” —to defend ethical naturalism against a variety of semantic worries, including G. E. Moore's “open question argument.” In response to these arguments, critics have expressed doubts about the compatibility of moral realism and direct reference. In this essay, I explain these doubts, and then sketch the beginnings of an answer—but understanding both the doubts and my answer requires some intellectual background.

scholarly journals Analysis of Power Flow Under Non-Sinusoidal Conditions in the Presence of Harmonics and Interharmonics Using Geometric Algebra

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco G. Montoya ◽  
Raúl Baños ◽  
Alfredo Alcayde ◽  
Francisco M. Arrabal-Campos
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Geometric Algebra ◽  
Power Flow ◽  
Precise Determination ◽  
Active Power ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Active Power Flow ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Open Question

The calculation of power flow in power systems with the presence of harmonics has been properly studied in the scientific literature. However, power flow calculation considering interharmonic components is still an open question. Traditional methods based on the IEEE1459 standard have proven to be valid and accurate only for linear and sinusoidal systems, but have been criticized for non-linear and non-sinusoidal systems because they are not able to explain correctly the current and voltage interactions beyond the active power. This paper proposes the use of a novel mathematical framework called geometric algebra (GA) to study the power flow considering the interaction of current and voltage harmonics and interharmonics. The use of GA enables the precise determination of the direction and magnitude of the total and single active power flow for each component, as well as other power elements related to the non-active power due to cross interaction. Moreover, this paper makes a novel contribution to the definition of interharmonics in geometric algebra space that has not been done before. To test the validity of the method, both linear and non-linear circuits are proposed and solved by applying voltages and currents with harmonic and interharmonic components. The results obtained show that power flow can be analyzed under the prism of the principle of energy conservation (PoCoE) in a way that allows a better understanding of the power spectrum due to the interaction of harmonics and interharmonics of voltage and current.

The Truth that Pain is Bad

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Moral Realism ◽  
Moral Fact ◽  
Partial Analysis ◽  
Open Question Argument ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Potential Objection

This chapter articulates several core claims of Compassionate Moral Realism, and argues that the view thereby satisfies the semantic and metaphysical criteria for moral realism. The chapter focuses on the claim that pain is objectively bad, arguing that it is literally true and corresponds to a stance-independent moral fact. After clarifying the meaning of that claim, a partial analysis for “objectively bad” is defended, according to which something is objectively bad if any subject in touch with it would be averse to it. After showing how this partial analysis connects to other philosophers’ analyses of value-related notions and follows from several defensible full analyses, a potential objection based on Moore’s Open Question Argument is considered and answered. It is then shown that “pain is objectively bad” is therefore literally true on this analysis, and that the corresponding fact is stance-independent in the relevant ways.

Mars: was There an Ancient Eden?

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 203-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias C. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Positive Answer ◽  
Biogenic Elements ◽  
Habitable Zones ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Early Mars ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Rocky Planets ◽  
Impact Erosion

AbstractThe clear evidence of water erosion on the surface of Mars suggests an early climate much more clement than the present one. Using a model for the origin of inner planet atmospheres by icy planetesimal impact, it is possible to reconstruct the original volatile inventory on Mars, starting from the thin atmosphere we observe today. Evidence for cometary impact can be found in the present abundances and isotope ratios of gases in the atmosphere and in SNC meteorites. If we invoke impact erosion to account for the present excess of129Xe, we predict an early inventory equivalent to at least 7.5 bars of CO2. This reservoir of volatiles is adequate to produce a substantial greenhouse effect, provided there is some small addition of SO2(volcanoes) or reduced gases (cometary impact). Thus it seems likely that conditions on early Mars were suitable for the origin of life – biogenic elements and liquid water were present at favorable conditions of pressure and temperature. Whether life began on Mars remains an open question, receiving hints of a positive answer from recent work on one of the Martian meteorites. The implications for habitable zones around other stars include the need to have rocky planets with sufficient mass to preserve atmospheres in the face of intensive early bombardment.

Commitment, Value, and Moral Realism

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel S. Lieberman
Keyword(s):  
Moral Realism

On the Semantic Content of Grammatical Gender and Its Impact on the Representation of Human Referents

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 367-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Irmen ◽  
Julia Kurovskaja
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Gender Information ◽  
Masculine Role ◽  
Feminine Role ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Gender Categories ◽  
Open Question

Grammatical gender has been shown to provide natural gender information about human referents. However, due to formal and conceptual differences between masculine and feminine forms, it remains an open question whether these gender categories influence the processing of person information to the same degree. Experiment 1 compared the semantic content of masculine and feminine grammatical gender by combining masculine and feminine role names with either gender congruent or incongruent referents (e.g., Dieser Lehrer [masc.]/Diese Lehrerin [fem.] ist mein Mann/meine Frau; This teacher is my husband/my wife). Participants rated sentences in terms of correctness and customariness. In Experiment 2, in addition to ratings reading times were recorded to assess processing more directly. Both experiments were run in German. Sentences with grammatically feminine role names and gender incongruent referents were rated as less correct and less customary than those with masculine forms and incongruent referents. Combining a masculine role name with an incongruent referent slowed down reading to a greater extent than combining a feminine role name with an incongruent referent. Results thus specify the differential effects of masculine and feminine grammatical gender in denoting human referents.

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