Daily Dialectic

"Is ethics possible without moral objectivity?"

Alain Guillemain, University of Queensland

22 May 2015

Whether morals exist as objective things or facts in the world is an important philosophical problem. Whether we can come to know these things or facts is yet a further problem. And whether we can come to know that we know them is a third problem that plagues the doctrine of moral objectivity. Because these problems persist, it is best to operate within a context of moral subjectivity (because this is just what we do anyway). In such a context, given that everyone decides what is right or wrong without some objective marker, is ethics even possible and does it make sense?