error theory

error theory:

the view that morality is make-believe, that moral claims are never true, that moral knowledge is impossible

the argument from disagreement

1: if well informed, open minded, rational people persistently disagree about some claim, then that claim is not objectively true.

2: well informed, open minded, rational people persistently disagree about all moral claims

3: therefore, no moral claim is objectively true

the argument from atheism:

1: morality can be objective only if god exists

2: god does not exist

3: therefore: morality cannot be objective

the scientific test of reality

1: science cannot detect objective moral facts

2: what cannot be scientifically verified may not really exist

3: therefore, objective moral facts probably do not exist