Description
Book SynopsisFew philosophers attempt to establish that there is an evaluative and moral realm. They make these major assumptions without argument. This plays into the hands of moral nihilists and certain other moral skeptics. A major obstacle that prevents philosophers from developing such arguments is the long-standing view that one cannot derive an ought from an is, that is, one cannot begin with purely descriptive non-evaluative propositions and deduce an evaluative or moral proposition. In this book, Edmund Wall develops arguments for evaluative and moral principles. His deductive reasoning begins with certain purely descriptive and non-evaluative propositions concerning human nature, establishing a basic moral principle of human life and a basic moral principle of knowledge. By providing such deductive arguments for basic moral principles, Wall makes considerable progress in establishing a sure foundation for morality. He further develops his case by responding to a plethora of anticipated ob
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments One: Introduction Two: Toward a Foundation for a Natural Morality Three: Competing Epistemological Approaches Toward Moral Foundations Four: Moral Relativism, Moral Objectivism, and Natural Moralities Five: Hill’s Kantian Moral Perspective and the Prospect of Grounding Kantian Morality Six: Portmore’s Moral Theory Seven: Concluding Remarks Bibliography Index
