Realism 2.1

Anti-realism

A metaethical stance that holds that there are no ethical facts and that statements of ethical claims should be understood as claims of opinion.

Emotivism

An anti-realist position that believes that statements about ethics are actually statements about one’s own preferences.

Metaethics

The branch of philosophy that studies the nature, meaning, and foundation of moral concepts and judgments.

Moral Fact

An objective truth about what is right or wrong, independent of beliefs or cultural practices.

Moral Property

A feature such as rightness or wrongness that attaches to actions, character traits, or situations.

Moral Realism

The metaethical view that moral facts exist independently of human opinion and can be discovered through reason and reflection.

Natural Law

The idea that humans, through reason, can discover moral principles that are built into human nature and reflect a divine order, guiding them to do good and avoid evil based on their natural purpose.

Objectivity

The idea that something exists or is true independently of individual feelings, beliefs, or perspectives.

Prescriptivism

An anti-realist position that believes that statements about ethics are actually statements about what one wishes other people to do.

David Brink

Moral and legal philosopher, 1958–, known for supporting Cornell realism, which combines the belief that moral facts are real, ethical realism, with the idea that they are part of the natural world, moral naturalism.

Peter Railton

American philosopher, 1950–, known for his work in ethics and the philosophy of science, especially his defense of moral realism, or the idea that moral truths exist and are grounded in natural facts.

Russ Shafer-Landau

American philosopher, 1963–, who defends moral realism, the idea that moral truths exist independently of human opinions and that we can discover them through reason, not science or feelings.

Thomas Aquinas

Philosopher, 1225–1274, who blended Christian theology with Aristotle’s philosophy, developing natural law theory to show how reason and faith together guide humans toward their ultimate purpose in God.

Climate Justice

The ethical view that nations and individuals have responsibilities to address the effects of climate change, often debated in realist versus relativist terms.

Cultural Relativism

The view that moral values are created by cultures and vary across societies rather than existing universally.

Epistemological Challenge

An objection to realism questioning how humans could know moral facts if they exist.

Error Theory

J. L. Mackie’s position that all moral claims are systematically mistaken because they assume objective values that do not exist.

Human Rights

The belief that all people are entitled to certain fundamental protections and freedoms, often cited in support of realism.

Metaphysical Challenge

An objection to realism questioning the existence and nature of moral properties like rightness or wrongness.

J. L. Mackie

Australian philosopher, 1917–1981, known for his critique of moral realism and his defense of error theory.

Richard Joyce

British-Australian philosopher, 1966–, who defends moral skepticism, questioning whether humans can know moral truths.

Divine Command Theory

A theory of ethics that maintains that right and wrong are determined solely by God’s free command.

Care Ethics (Ethics of Care)

An approach to ethics that is associated most closely with feminism, which holds that the relationships between people should be understood as a concern of ethics.

Ethical Naturalism

An approach to ethics that argues that performing good actions fulfills human nature, while performing evil actions distorts it.

Virtue Ethics

An approach to ethics first proposed by Aristotle; it emphasizes that character, not actions, ought to be the primary focus of ethics.

G.E. Moore

English philosopher, 1873–1958, whose book Principia Ethica brought about the 20th century turn toward metaethics.

Mencius

Chinese philosopher, 371–289 BCE, in the Confucian tradition who emphasized that being ethically right was in keeping with the natural order.

Nel Noddings

American philosopher, 1929–2022, whose work is important to the development of care ethics.

Philippa Foot

English philosopher, 1920–2010, whose work led to a revival in virtue ethics.