Moral constructivism or ethical constructivism is a view both in
meta-ethics
In metaphilosophy and ethics, metaethics is the study of the nature, scope, ground, and meaning of moral judgment, ethical belief, or values. It is one of the three branches of ethics generally studied by philosophers, the others being normativ ...
and
normative ethics
Normative ethics is the study of ethics, ethical behaviour and is the branch of Philosophy, philosophical ethics that investigates questions regarding how one ought to act, in a Morality, moral sense.
Normative ethics is distinct from metaethics i ...
which posits that:
#Ethical
sentences express
proposition
A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false. It is a central concept in the philosophy of language, semantics, logic, and related fields. Propositions are the object s denoted by declarative sentences; for example, "The sky ...
s.
#Some such propositions are true.
#The
truth
Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...
or
falsity of such propositions is ineliminably dependent on the result of a suitable constructivist procedure.
Metaethical constructivism holds that correctness of moral judgments, principles and values is determined by being the result of a suitable constructivist procedure. In other words, normative values are a construction of human
practical reason
In philosophy, practical reason is the use of reason to decide how to act. It contrasts with theoretical reason, often called speculative reason, the use of reason to decide what to believe. For example, agents use practical reason to decide whet ...
. It is opposed to all forms of moral realism, which posit that morality is something discovered by the use of
theoretical reason,
non-cognitivism
Non-cognitivism is the meta-ethical view that ethical sentences do not express propositions (i.e., statements) and thus cannot be true or false (they are not truth-apt). A noncognitivist denies the cognitivist claim that "moral judgments are ...
, which denies that morality can be constructed rationally, and
error theory
Moral nihilism (also called ethical nihilism) is the meta-ethics, metaethical view that nothing is morally right or morally wrong and that morality does not exist.
Moral nihilism is distinct from moral relativism, which allows for actions to ...
, which denies the possibility of constructing an objective truth.
In normative ethics, moral constructivism is the view that principles and values within a given normative domain can be justified based on the very fact that they are the result of a suitable constructivist device or procedure.
See also
* ''
Constructivism in Practical Philosophy''
*
Ethical subjectivism
Ethical subjectivism (also known as moral subjectivism and moral non-objectivism) is the meta-ethical view which claims that:
#Ethical sentences express propositions.
#Some such propositions are true.
#The truth or falsity of such propositions ...
*
Practical reason
In philosophy, practical reason is the use of reason to decide how to act. It contrasts with theoretical reason, often called speculative reason, the use of reason to decide what to believe. For example, agents use practical reason to decide whet ...
*
Pragmatic ethics
Pragmatic ethics is a theory of normative philosophical ethics and meta-ethics that is associated with pragmatism, a philosophical movement that developed around the turn of the 20th century. Ethical pragmatists such as John Dewey believe that s ...
References
External links
*
*
Epistemological theories
Metaethics
Normative ethics
Rationalism
A priori
Constructivism
Ethical theories
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