Abstract
This Independent Study thesis is divided into an introduction and three chapters. The introduction lays out the problem I am attempting to tackle. Namely, that too many accept a position towards ethics that moral claims are not truth-apt. I assert that this is false because moral realism is a stronger position philosophically, but that also there is a pragmatic use in accepting a moral realist position in fighting injustice.
Chapter One is meant as an introduction to metaethics. Some important distinctions are made such as the difference between cognitivism and non-cognitivism. Chapter one is meant to simply lay out a basic introduction to the philosophical field in which this paper is focused.
Chapter Two focuses on some recent stronger arguments for non-cognitivism (the view that moral claims are not truth-apt) and why I come to the conclusion that they fail philosophically. This chapter mainly focuses on projectivism and quasi-realism.
Chapter Three moves on to my pragmatic argument for moral realism. It should be noted that nothing I argue for in the third chapter points towards the truth of moral realism, rather it talks about what the pragmatic benefits are of accepting a moral realist position. I argue that non-cognitivism has so infiltrated the ideological superstructure in modern society, and that in turn we focus so much on the supposed “fact/opinion” distinction, which results in the downplaying of moral claims as being true and important.
Advisor
Rudisill, John
Department
Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Lehmann, Henry C., "A Cognitivist Conclusion in Metaethics: The Value of a Realist Notion of Ethics in Fighting Injustice" (2020). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 8886.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/8886
Disciplines
Philosophy
Publication Date
2020
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2020 Henry C. Lehmann