Moore on the Right, the Good, and Uncertainty

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

This chapter proposes a conception of Practical Ethics which ties what epistemically limited agents are to do on some occasion not only to limits on their non-evaluative information about how much intrinsic value would result from various actions, but also to epistemic limits on their evaluative information about what has intrinsic value. The chapter is organized as follows. The first section spells out Moore's view of the way in which uncertainty affects the proposed definition of rightness in terms of the maximization of value. The second section compares Moore's view with an alternative put forward more recently by Frank Jackson (1991). The third and fourth sections present the author's own account and say why it should be preferred to both Moore's and Jackson's views. To anticipate, it turns out that Moore and Jackson are both right about something and wrong about something. The correct view combines elements from both.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMetaethics after Moore
PublisherOxford University Press
ISBN (Electronic)9780191710032
ISBN (Print)0199269912, 9780199269914
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 26 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Arts and Humanities

Keywords

  • Frank jackson
  • Moore
  • Practical ethics
  • Rightness
  • Uncertainty

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