Moral Realism and the Foundations of Ethics [Hardcover]

This book is a systematic and constructive treatment of a number of traditional issues at the foundation of ethics.A systematic analysis considers the objectivity of ethics, the relationship between the moral point of view and a scientific or naturalist worldview and its role in a person's rational lifespan.A systematic analysis considers the objectivity of ethics, the relationship between the moral point of view and a scientific or naturalist worldview and its role in a person's rational lifespan.This book is a systematic and constructive treatment of a number of traditional issues at the foundations of ethics. These issues concern the objectivity of ethics, the possibility and nature of moral knowledge, the relationship between the moral point of view and a scientific or naturalist world-view, the nature of moral value and obligation, and the role of morality in a person's rational lifeplan. In striking contrast to traditional and more recent work in the field, David Brink offers an integrated defense of the objectivity of ethics.Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Moral realism and moral inquiry; 3. Externalist moral realism; 4. Does moral realsim matter?; 5. A coherentist moral epistemology; 6. Moral realism and the is/ought thesis; 7. Posteriori objections to moral realism; 8. Objective utilitarianism; Appendices; Bibliography; Index. David Brink's book is the best development, synthesis, and defense now available of a naturalistic moral realism. Ethics