Final Class

1
Course Business

 Meetings available all next week. Please email for an
appointment.
 Meeting vs. emails for questions.
 Substitute extra credit due Monday in a box outside
my office.
models

3
Models (for paper)

 Introduction: 1st paragraph “Why Abortion is
Immoral.”
 Present the Argument: Kavka presenting Hobbes’
reconciliation project.
 Critique the Argument (Raise Objections): Kavka
critiquing Hobbes, Huemer critiquing the “harms the
user” argument, JJT critiquing the argument against
abortion (by attacking the “every person has a right
to life” premise).
4
Models (for paper)

 Objection/Response: Kavka on the ultimate
sacrifice. Marquis on contraception.
 Conclusion: Huemer’s last paragraph
Objection: Moral disagreement

Response:

 Arguments about values are really…Arguments about
facts.
 “When someone disagrees with us about the moral value
of a certain action or type of action, we do admittedly
resort to argument in order to win him over to our way of
thinking. But we do not attempt to show by our
arguments that he has the "wrong" ethical feeling towards
a situation whose nature he has correctly apprehended.
What we attempt to show is that he is mistaken about the
facts of the case.…”
Response

 “….. We do this in the hope that we have only to get
our opponent to agree with us about the nature of
the empirical facts for him to adopt the same moral
attitude towards them as we do.” (183-184)
Ayer’s challenge:

 “If anyone doubts the accuracy of this account, let
him try to construct even an imaginary argument on
a question of value which does not reduce itself to an
argument about an empirical matter of fact. I am
confident he will not succeed in producing a single
example.” (184)
 Anyone?
Topics

4. According to A.J. Ayer, moral disagreements are
really about facts and not about values. Describe his
argument for this claim and explain why it is important
for his defense of emotivism. Does the research
described by Jonathan Haidt support or undermine
Ayer’s theory? Is Ayer’s position compelling? Why or
why not?
Michael smith:
Moral Realism

11
Features of moral practice

 What we presume about moral facts and beliefs.
1. Objectivity. There are moral facts. If there is
disagreement, open-minded people should
converge in their moral beliefs, converge upon the
truth.
2. Practicality. If we have a moral belief, we have a
desire to act accordingly, all things being equal.
Moral facts are motivating, they give us a reason to
act in a certain way.
12
The Problem

 Beliefs are judgments about how the world is.
 Desires are expressions of how we want the world to
be. They do not attempt to describe the way the
world is.
 So how can moral facts encompass both beliefs and
desires?
 How can we rationally criticize a moral belief if it
in part constituted by a desire?
13
Criticizing desires

 Desires (moral and non-moral) can be rationally
criticized if…
1. They are based on false beliefs.
2. They are formed under non-ideal conditions of
rationality (we are not “cool, calm, and collected.)
14
Example

Smith’s Resolution

 Performing action A in a certain situation is morally
right just in case I have a reason to perform A, in that
situation. (Objectivity feature)
 I have reason to perform an action if I would want to
perform that action under under idealized conditions of
reflection. (Practicality feature)
16
Moral Facts

 It is a moral fact that a person should perform action
A in my circumstances if we would all want to do A
in that situation, if we were under idealized
conditions of reflection.
Are there moral facts?

 For moral facts to exist, there must be a convergence
of desires under idealized conditions of reflection.
 Otherwise, in identical circumstances, what I have
reason to do may differ from what you have reason
to do (i.e. moral relativism.)
18
Ayer, Haidt, Smith

 What are the points of disagreement between Ayer
and Smith?
 Does Haidt’s MFT suggest that people would have
different desires even under idealized conditions of
reflection?
 Why is Smith optimistic that convergence may be
forthcoming?
19
Final Exam

 1/3 Pre-midterm material, 2/3 Post-midterm
material.
 Passage IDs: Make sure you relate the passage to the
author’s argument. Answer the question: “why is
this passage important for the author’s argument as
a whole?”
Final Exam

 Partial credit is your friend. Unless you have no
clue what the question is asking, it’s worth doing the
best you can.
 Be as specific as possible: Throwing a bunch of
words and concepts that you dimly remember me
using won’t do much, if any, good. Show that you
understand the question.
Final Thoughts

 Subject your moral values and beliefs to scrutiny if
only to find out what you really think about a moral
issue. Inform yourself about all the relevant facts.
 Be aware of the all pitfall, biases, prejudices,
distortions surrounding moral deliberation.
 Don’t argue with someone about astrology in a bar.
 Don’t be dogmatic. Dogmatism is the enemy of
philosophy.
BAD DOGMA!

23