Metaethical pluralism: how both moral naturalism and moral skepticism may be permissible positions

This article provides a critical examination of Ken Binmore’s theory of the social contract in light of philosophical discussions about moral naturalism and moral conventionalism. Binmore’s account builds on the popular philosophical device of the original position but gives it a naturalistic twist. I argue that this makes it vulnerable to moral skepticism. I explore a possible answer to the moral skeptic’s challenge, building on the fact that Binmore’s account displays a variant of moral conventionalism. I ultimately conclude however that the conventionalist answer leads to a purely behaviorist view of morality, which implies that there is nothing special about morality and fairness norms. I propose alternative interpretations of conventionalism. These accounts escape most of the difficulties because they place emphasis on the reasons that establish a moral convention.

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Practical Intelligibility and Moral Skepticism: Should Realists Worry About Grass‐Counters and Hand‐Claspers?

Pacific Philosophical Quarterly ◽

10.1111/papq.12334 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Micah Lott

Keyword(s):

Moral Skepticism

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A REPLY TO RONALD DWORKIN’S CRITIQUE OF MORAL SKEPTICISM

Ethics Politics & Society ◽

10.21814/eps.4.1.186 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 23-45

Author(s):

Mateus Matos Tormin

Keyword(s):

General Structure ◽

Ronald Dworkin ◽

Moral Skepticism ◽

Moral Domain

This paper focuses on “indeterminacy”, “objectivity” and “truth” in the work of Ronald Dworkin. The text is divided into four parts: first, I will expose the general structure of Dworkin’s conception of objectivity in the moral domain (Section 1). Next, I will present the main critiques Dworkin addresses to two of his most important philosophical enemies, namely the “external skeptic” (Section 2.1) and the “internal skeptic” (Section 2.2). I then intend to address Dworkin’s critiques by presenting counterarguments in defense of moral skepticism (Section 3). In order to clarify the debate and its points, I try to illustrate the arguments with examples whenever possible. In the concluding Section (4), I recapitulate the main points of the text.

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