Article ID: CBB001250831

Is the Naturalistic Fallacy Dead (and If So, Ought It Be?) (2012)

unapi

Much of modern moral philosophy argued that there are is's in this world, and there are oughts, but that the two are entirely independent of one another. What this meant was that morality had nothing to do with man's biological nature, and could not be derived from it. Any such attempt was considered to be a categorical mistake, and plain foolish. Most philosophers still believe this, but a growing group of neo-naturalist thinkers are now challenging their assumptions. Here I consider the latest work of one of them, Patricia Churchland, on what neurobiology teaches us about morality, and ask whether her challenge means that the naturalistic fallacy, as it is known, should be laid to rest. I argue that while there may be no such thing as a human trait divorced from human biology, this does not necessarily mean that our natures produce constraints that are relevant to specific moral dilemmas.

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Description On neo-naturalist philosophers who are reviving the idea that morality is related to the biological nature of humans.


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Authors & Contributors
Sakura, Osamu
Liao, S. Matthew
Antonella Tramacere
Vidal, Fernando
Young, Allan
Wu, Kevin Chien-Chang
Concepts
Neurosciences
Philosophy of mind
Definition of human; human nature
Ethics
Psychology
Philosophy
Time Periods
21st century
20th century, late
20th century
18th century
19th century
17th century
Places
Japan
Europe
Taiwan
South Korea
East Asia
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