The natural/non-natural distinction in metaethics
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Realists in metaethics typically divide into two camps: naturalists and non-naturalists. But beyond this, there is very little agreement on what the natural/non-natural distinction is supposed to be. Naturalists see themselves as assimilating the normative into a scientific worldview, while non-naturalists typically either see realism as incompatible with such a worldview or they simply don't find the relationship between science and the normative particularly pressing. This is an unfortunate state of affairs. Naturalists and non-naturalists see themselves as involved in a deep disagreement about the nature of the normative, but it is not clear why the views espoused by non-naturalists stand in contrast to the views espoused by scientists (or by naturalists). Nor is it obvious why certain naturalists can lay claim to being in keeping with a scientific worldview. If metaethicists are to continue to debate the question of naturalism versus non-naturalism, the distinction will need to be clarified. This dissertation attempts to do just that. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the issue. Chapters 2-4 examine prominent proposals for drawing the distinction in the literature (respectively, reduction, spatiotemporality, and causation), finding them all wanting. Chapter 5 contains a positive proposal in which I argue that the distinction can helpfully be drawn in terms of the kind of evidence naturalists ought to require for normative facts. In particular I argue that the publicity and spatiotemporality of evidence for natural facts provides a useful way of drawing the distinction.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Zweber, Adam Edward |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Hussain, Nadeem |
| Thesis advisor | Hussain, Nadeem |
| Thesis advisor | Lawlor, Krista |
| Thesis advisor | Longino, Helen |
| Thesis advisor | Maguire,Barry |
| Degree committee member | Lawlor, Krista |
| Degree committee member | Longino, Helen |
| Degree committee member | Maguire,Barry |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Philosophy |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Adam Zweber. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Philosophy. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/vz314jd8067 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Adam Edward Zweber
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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