Metaethics and the Nature of Properties

Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 98 (1):133-152 (2024)
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Abstract

This paper explores connections between theories of morality and theories of properties. It argues that (1) moral realism is in tension with predicate, class and mereological nominalism; (2) moral non-naturalism is incompatible with standard versions of resemblance nominalism, immanent realism and trope theory; and (3) the standard semantic arguments for property realism do not support moral realism. I also raise doubts about trope-theoretic explanations of moral supervenience and argue against one version of the principle that we should accept theories that maintain neutrality.

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Neil Sinclair
Nottingham University

References found in this work

Moral realism.Peter Railton - 1986 - Philosophical Review 95 (2):163-207.
The Problems of Philosophy.Bertrand Russell - 1912 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 21 (1):22-28.
On what there is.Willard Van Orman Quine - 1948 - Review of Metaphysics 2 (5):21-38.
The Things We Mean.Stephen Schiffer - 2003 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 66 (2):395-395.
Science, Perception, and Reality.Logic and Reality.Wilfrid Sellars & Gustav Bergmann - 1963 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 25 (3):421-423.

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