Michael Huemer: Ethical Intuitionism | WSB #32

Who Shaves the Barber?

Content provided by William Nava. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by William Nava or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

6y ago 30:33

MP3•Episode home

Archived series ("Inactive feed" status)

When? This feed was archived on March 10, 2020 23:07 (4y ago). Last successful fetch was on October 15, 2019 13:05 (4+ y ago)

Why? Inactive feed status. Our servers were unable to retrieve a valid podcast feed for a sustained period.

What now? You might be able to find a more up-to-date version using the search function. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.

Are there moral facts? If so, are they objective? Where do they come from? Do we have reason to think - or doubt - that our immediate ethical intuitions tell what us they are?

These are the questions I discuss this week with professor Michael Huemer. The metaethical landscape can be split up as follows: realists (those who think there are objective ethical facts) and anti-realists (those who don't). Realists, in turn, fall into two further camps: naturalists, who think objective ethical facts can be reduced to descriptive facts about the world; and ethical intuitionists, who think ethical facts (or "evaluative" facts) are of a different sort and cannot be reduced to descriptive facts. As Huemer puts it, ethical intuitionists argue that ethical facts have a different type of ontology. We go on to discuss the reasons we should trust our ethical intuitions to reveal moral facts, why ethical intuitions seem shakier than perceptual ones, and what the source of moral facts is. Finally, Huemer gives us a teaser for his upcoming book, Paradox Lost, in which he claims to solve ten famous paradoxes, including the Liar, Sorites, Newcomb's, and the Sleeping Beauty problem.

Next week: Timothy Williamson: Epistemicism

Visit http://williamnava.com for more info!

Interested in metaethics? I've discussed it before, with Tomasz Kaye.

Special thanks to Jackie Blum for the podcast art, and The Tin Box for the theme music.Click here for the full list of episodes!

Sources:Ethical Intuitionism (Michael Huemer)

Topics discussed:

0:57 - Metaethical landscapes: two ways to draw the map5:24 - Reasons people dislike ethical intuitionism9:52 - Why not doubt our ethical intuitions?16:33 - What are moral facts?19:25 - Is there a source of moral facts?25:19 - Ethical versus perceptual appearances27:30 - New book: Paradox Lost (Liar, Sorites, Newcomb's)

55 episodes

#Society #Philosophy #William Nava