Louise Hanson
The Real Problem with Evolutionary Debunking Arguments
Hanson, Louise
Authors
Abstract
There is a substantial literature on evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) in metaethics. According to these arguments, evolutionary explanations of our moral beliefs pose a significant problem for moral realism, specifically by committing the realist to an unattractive pessimism about the prospects of our having moral knowledge. In this paper, I argue that EDAs exploit an equivocation between two distinct readings of their central claim. One is plausibly true but has no epistemic relevance, and the other would have epistemic consequences for realism, but is false. If I'm right, this undermines attempts to use evolutionary explanations to debunk belief in other domains too.
Citation
Hanson, L. (2016). The Real Problem with Evolutionary Debunking Arguments. Philosophical Quarterly, 67(268), 508-533. https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqw075
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Oct 17, 2016 |
Online Publication Date | Nov 18, 2016 |
Publication Date | Nov 18, 2016 |
Deposit Date | Jan 30, 2019 |
Publicly Available Date | Jun 20, 2019 |
Journal | Philosophical Quarterly |
Print ISSN | 0031-8094 |
Electronic ISSN | 1467-9213 |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 67 |
Issue | 268 |
Pages | 508-533 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqw075 |
Related Public URLs | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/261709 |
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Copyright Statement
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in The Philosophical Quarterly following peer review. The version of record Hanson, Louise (2017). The Real Problem with Evolutionary Debunking Arguments. The Philosophical Quarterly 67(268): 508-533. is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqw075.
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