Maybe I'm not comprehending, but was an actual definition of moral particuralism given? Or is the explanation that it rejects broadly applicable moral principals definition enough?
I suppose that under a broad view any explanation of ethics is a principle, but it seems like this theory could be a little more specific. Is particuliarism like asthetics, in that its pretty much a matter of personal preferences, or can it coexist with the idea that a "right" act exists, even if it can't be found through general principles?
“Moral Particularism, at its most trenchant, is the claim that there are no defensible moral principles, that moral thought does not consist in the application of moral principles to cases, and that the morally perfect person should not be conceived as the person of principle.”
It's not that it's a matter of personal preference -- just that there are no universal moral principles. Particularists believe in right acts.
(2) Right, so just being counterintuitive sometimes wouldn't be sufficient to show that a theory was wrong. We'd need to see if the intuitions withstand scrutiny -- in the utilitarian case they don't.
Maybe I'm not comprehending, but was an actual definition of moral particuralism given? Or is the explanation that it rejects broadly applicable moral principals definition enough?
I suppose that under a broad view any explanation of ethics is a principle, but it seems like this theory could be a little more specific. Is particuliarism like asthetics, in that its pretty much a matter of personal preferences, or can it coexist with the idea that a "right" act exists, even if it can't be found through general principles?
Good Steelman regardless though!
“Moral Particularism, at its most trenchant, is the claim that there are no defensible moral principles, that moral thought does not consist in the application of moral principles to cases, and that the morally perfect person should not be conceived as the person of principle.”
It's not that it's a matter of personal preference -- just that there are no universal moral principles. Particularists believe in right acts.
I see. Thanks!
Do unto others.
I was Cleopatra, I was taller than the rafters
But that's all in the past now, gone with the wind
Now a nurse in white shoes leads me back to my guestroom
It's a bed and a bathroom
And a place for the end
There is a middle road for sure.
Thanks for this read.
Such a good song.
Two things.
(1) That's so much less parsimonious.
(2) As I point out here, we'd expect the correct moral view to sometimes seem wrong. https://benthams.substack.com/p/a-bayesian-analysis-of-when-utilitarianism?s=w
(1) True -- parsimony is nonetheless a virtue.
(2) Right, so just being counterintuitive sometimes wouldn't be sufficient to show that a theory was wrong. We'd need to see if the intuitions withstand scrutiny -- in the utilitarian case they don't.