The Myth of Morality

Joyce's exciting and innovative book will appeal to all readers interested in moral philosophy.

Richard Joyce (Author)

9780521808064, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 November 2001

266 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.9 cm, 0.49 kg

'[T]his is a lucid, tightly argued volume, mercifully free of needless jargon. Joyce readily anticipates and addresses likely objections to both his error theory and his fictionalist proposal. … A good deal of the argument is sensible, even ingenious. … The Myth of Morality will force morality's philosophical allies to come to grips with a position that promises to reconcile morality's apparent objectivity with its problematic claims to truth. Joyce's volume offers fruitful avenues of exploration for both realists and irrealists alike.' Michael Cholbi, Utilitas

In The Myth of Morality, Richard Joyce argues that moral discourse is hopelessly flawed. At the heart of ordinary moral judgements is a notion of moral inescapability, or practical authority, which, upon investigation, cannot be reasonably defended. Joyce argues that natural selection is to blame, in that it has provided us with a tendency to invest the world with values that it does not contain, and demands that it does not make. Should we therefore do away with morality, as we did away with other faulty notions such as witches? Possibly not. We may be able to carry on with morality as a 'useful fiction' - allowing it to have a regulative influence on our lives and decisions, perhaps even playing a central role - while not committing ourselves to believing or asserting falsehoods, and thus not being subject to accusations of 'error'.

Preface
1. Error theory and motivation
2. Error theory and reasons
3. Practical instrumentalism
4. The relativity of reasons
5. Internal and external reasons
6. Morality and evolution
7. Fictionalism
8. Moral fictionalism
Epilogue: debunking myths
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP]