The first chapter, "The Subjectivity of Values," opens with Mackie's rejection of moral universalism: "There are no objective values."[1] This chapter is well known for advancing two arguments against moral universalism: the argument from disagreement and the argument from queerness. The chapter is excerpted in the fourth (2007) edition of Stuart and James Rachels's The Right Thing to Do: Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy.[2]
Argument from disagreementedit
The argument from disagreement, also known as the argument from relativity, first observes that there is a lot of intractable moral disagreement: people disagree about what is right and what is wrong.[3] Mackie argues that the best explanation of this is that right and wrong are invented, not objective truths.
The argument from queerness has two forms: metaphysical and epistemological. With regards to the metaphysical version, if moral properties or entities were to exist, they would be very unusual ("queer") things. Epistemologically, it is unclear how we could come to know about such entities. The metaphysical and epistemological arguments are tied together, "since we are forced to posit weird epistemological equipment only if it has already been established that the properties in question are weird."[3]
Referencesedit
^Mackie, J. L. (John Leslie) (1978). Ethics : inventing right and wrong. Harmondsworth, Middlesex : Penguin Books. p. 15. ISBN978-0-14-021957-9 – via Internet Archive.
^"The Right Thing to Do: Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy". www.jamesrachels.org. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
^ abJoyce, Richard. . Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
Literatureedit
McDowell, John: "Aesthetic Value, Objectivity and the Fabric of the World," in: Mind, Value and Reality (1998). , Harvard University Press.
External linksedit
Directory page at Encyclopedia Britannica
This article about a book on ethics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
ethics, inventing, right, wrong, other, uses, ethics, disambiguation, 1977, work, ethics, mackie, known, espousal, moral, skepticism, argument, from, queerness, first, editionauthorj, mackielanguageenglishsubjectphilosophygenrenon, fictionpublisherpenguin, boo. For other uses see Ethics disambiguation Ethics Inventing Right and Wrong is a 1977 work of ethics by J L Mackie known for its espousal of moral skepticism and the argument from queerness Ethics Inventing Right and WrongFirst editionAuthorJ L MackieLanguageEnglishSubjectPhilosophyGenreNon fictionPublisherPenguin Books Contents 1 Contents 1 1 Argument from disagreement 1 2 Argument from queerness 2 References 3 Literature 4 External linksContents editThe first chapter The Subjectivity of Values opens with Mackie s rejection of moral universalism There are no objective values 1 This chapter is well known for advancing two arguments against moral universalism the argument from disagreement and the argument from queerness The chapter is excerpted in the fourth 2007 edition of Stuart and James Rachels s The Right Thing to Do Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy 2 Argument from disagreement edit The argument from disagreement also known as the argument from relativity first observes that there is a lot of intractable moral disagreement people disagree about what is right and what is wrong 3 Mackie argues that the best explanation of this is that right and wrong are invented not objective truths Argument from queerness edit Main article Argument from queerness The argument from queerness has two forms metaphysical and epistemological With regards to the metaphysical version if moral properties or entities were to exist they would be very unusual queer things Epistemologically it is unclear how we could come to know about such entities The metaphysical and epistemological arguments are tied together since we are forced to posit weird epistemological equipment only if it has already been established that the properties in question are weird 3 References edit Mackie J L John Leslie 1978 Ethics inventing right and wrong Harmondsworth Middlesex Penguin Books p 15 ISBN 978 0 14 021957 9 via Internet Archive The Right Thing to Do Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy www jamesrachels org Retrieved 2021 07 15 a b Joyce Richard Mackie s Arguments for the Moral Error Theory Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archived from the original on 4 March 2021 Retrieved 22 December 2017 Literature editMcDowell John Aesthetic Value Objectivity and the Fabric of the World in Mind Value and Reality 1998 Harvard University Press External links editDirectory page at Encyclopedia Britannica nbsp This article about a book on ethics is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ethics Inventing Right and Wrong amp oldid 1214164619, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
