Why bother with so what?

I address a family of objections I label the So What? objection to robust non-naturalist realism (or, just non-naturalism). This objection concludes that non-naturalism fails to identify the moral properties in virtue of failing to explain why non-natural properties would have all the features we ex...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Philosophical Studies Vol. 181; no. 1; pp. 349 - 368
Autor principal: Cannon, N. D.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Jan2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:I address a family of objections I label the So What? objection to robust non-naturalist realism (or, just non-naturalism). This objection concludes that non-naturalism fails to identify the moral properties in virtue of failing to explain why non-natural properties would have all the features we expect moral properties to have and can be extended to provide the conclusion that the non-naturalist is therefore immoral. I argue that So What? is question-begging because it disallows non-naturalists their central theoretical claim: there are ethical properties iff they are fundamental properties (and, in virtue of that, non-natural). I then diagnose the error anti-non-naturalists make explicitly: those who object to non-naturalism along the lines of So What? either fail to understand precisely what the theory claims or fail to understand non-naturalist motivations for going in for that theory.