A Coherence Theory of Truth in Ethics

Philosophical Studies 127 (3):493-523 (2006)
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Abstract

Quine argues, in “On the Nature of Moral Values” that a coherence theory of truth is the “lot of ethics”. In this paper, I do a bit of work from within Quinean theory. Specifically, I explore precisely what a coherence theory of truth in ethics might look like and what it might imply for the study of normative value theory generally. The first section of the paper is dedicated to the exposition of a formally correct coherence truth predicate, the possibility of which has been the subject of some skepticism. In the final two sections of the paper, I claim that a coherence theory in ethics does not reduce the practice of moral inquiry to absurdity, in practice as well as in principle.

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Dale Dorsey
University of Kansas

Citations of this work

How to Measure Moral Realism.Thomas Pölzler - 2018 - Review of Philosophy and Psychology 9 (3):647-670.
Shopping for Truth Pluralism.Will Gamester - 2020 - Synthese 198 (12):11351-11377.
Validity for Strong Pluralists.Aaron J. Cotnoir - 2013 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 86 (3):563-579.
Preferences, welfare, and the status-quo bias.Dale Dorsey - 2010 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 88 (3):535-554.

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References found in this work

A Sensible Subjectivism.David Wiggins - 1987 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The Semantic Conception of Truth.Alfred Tarski - 2005 - In José Medina & David Wood, Truth. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
On the Nature of Moral Values.W. V. Quine - 1978 - Critical Inquiry 5 (3):471-480.
Quinean ethics.Owen J. Flanagan Jr - 1982 - Ethics 93 (1):56-74.

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