[T]here is a lot to learn from this volume. Joyce writes with great clarity and his judicious treatment of complex philosophical issues is highly commendable. It is a terrific asset for both students and researchers working on metaethics to have his most influential papers collected in one volume.

Jonas Olson, International Journal for the Study of Skepticism

One philosopher who has long taken evolutionary theory seriously is Richard Joyce. Essays in Moral Skepticism is a collection of Joyce's recent papers, and as such offers more to the specialist interested in contemporary scholarly debates

Max Hayward, Times Literary Supplement

Joyce's book is an interesting, occasionally frustrating, massively stimulating read. The delicate contours of moral error theory, skepticisms, and related territory are mapped out here better than anywhere else. Moreover, Joyce does not skip the hard questions, while being unafraid to leave the reader hungry for more answers. It would be good reading for anyone with a passing interest. It is essential reading for anyone with anything more. Even though the essays are largely previously published, they mesh together into a cloud of views, questions, lunges and dodges that are best read together. This volume is a rare and welcome case of a collection of an author's previous work being much more than the sum of its parts.

Jack Woods, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Moral skepticism is the denial that there is any such thing as moral knowledge. Some moral skeptics deny that moral judgments are beliefs; some allow that moral judgments are beliefs but claim that they are all untrue; others claim that all moral judgments are unjustified. Since the publication of The Myth of Morality in 2001, Richard Joyce has explored the terrain of moral skepticism and, perhaps more than any other living philosopher, has been willing to advocate versions of this radical view. Joyce's attitude toward morality is analogous to an atheist's attitude toward religion: he claims that in making moral judgments speakers attempt to state truths (e.g., that breaking promises is usually wrong) but that the world simply isn't furnished with the properties and relations necessary to render such judgments true. Moral thinking, he argues, probably emerged as a human adaptation, but one whose usefulness derived from its capacity to bolster social cohesion rather than its ability to track truths about the world. This forms the basis of Joyce's 'evolutionary debunking argument,' according to which evidence that a certain kind of judgment can be explained with no reference to its truth may reveal those judgments to lack warrant. Essays in Moral Skepticism gathers together a dozen of Joyce's most significant papers from the last decade, following the developments in his ideas, presenting responses to critics, and charting his exploration of the complex landscape of modern moral skepticism.
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This volume draws together Richard Joyce's work from the last decade on moral skepticism, the view that there is no such thing as moral knowledge. Joyce's radical view is that in making moral judgments speakers attempt to state truths but that the world isn't furnished with the properties and relations necessary to render such judgments true.
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PART 1. ERROR THEORY; PART 2. EVOLUTION AND DEBUNKING; PART 3: PROJECTIVISM AND FICTIONALISM
Influential essays available together for the first time Defends a bold and controversial viewpoint Accessible and clear
Richard Joyce is Professor of Philosophy at the Victoria University of Wellington. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 1998, and since then has taught and researched at universities in England, Australia, and New Zealand. He is the author of The Myth of Morality (CUP, 2001) and The Evolution of Morality (MIT Press, 2006), as well as numerous articles and book chapters on metaethics and moral psychology.
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Influential essays available together for the first time Defends a bold and controversial viewpoint Accessible and clear

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780198754879
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press
Vekt
556 gr
Høyde
241 mm
Bredde
161 mm
Dybde
22 mm
Aldersnivå
U, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
284

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Richard Joyce is Professor of Philosophy at the Victoria University of Wellington. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 1998, and since then has taught and researched at universities in England, Australia, and New Zealand. He is the author of The Myth of Morality (CUP, 2001) and The Evolution of Morality (MIT Press, 2006), as well as numerous articles and book chapters on metaethics and moral psychology.