Error Theory and Fictionalism

In John Skorupski (ed.), The Routledge Companion to Ethics. New York: Routledge (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper surveys contemporary accounts of error theory and fictionalism. It introduces these categories to those new to metaethics by beginning with moral nihilism, the view that nothing really is right or wrong. One main motivation is that the scientific worldview seems to have no place for rightness or wrongness. Within contemporary metaethics there is a family of theories that makes similar claims. These are the theories that are usually classified as forms of error theory or fictionalism though there are different ways of accepting some form of the view that nothing is really write or wrong. A range of different ways of going in the light of such a realization is also proposed. The resulting taxonomy of positions is quite complicated and sometimes surprising. One surprise will be that some positions plausibly classified as error theories or forms of fictionalism do not quite seem to be forms of nihilism.

Author's Profile

Nadeem J.Z. Hussain
Stanford University

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-05-19

Downloads
1,696 (#7,055)

6 months
135 (#32,323)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?