Debunking Arguments in Ethics

Offers the first book-length discussion of debunking arguments in ethics and the reliability of moral judgment.

Hanno Sauer (Author)

9781108438278, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 November 2020

255 pages
22.9 x 15.1 x 1.4 cm, 0.385 kg

In this crisply written book, Hanno Sauer offers the first book-length treatment of debunking arguments in ethics, developing an empirically informed and philosophically sophisticated account of genealogical arguments and their significance for the reliability of moral cognition. He breaks new ground by introducing a series of novel distinctions into the current debate, which allows him to develop a framework for assessing the prospects of debunking or vindicating our moral intuitions. He also challenges the justification of some of our moral judgments by showing that they are based on epistemically defective processes. His book is an original, cutting-edge contribution to the burgeoning field of empirically informed metaethics, and will interest philosophers, psychologists, and anyone interested in how - and whether - moral judgment works.

Introduction: debunking arguments and the gap
Part I. Debunking: 1. Debunking explained: structure and typology
2. Debunking defused: the metaethical turn
3. Debunking contained: selective and global scope
Part II. Disagreement: 4. Debunking realism: moral disagreement
5. Debunking conservatism: political disagreement
Part III. Deontology: 6. Debunking details: the perils of trolleyology
7. Debunking doctrines: double or knobe effect?
Part IV. Conclusion: 8. Vindicating arguments.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], Philosophy [HP]