Table Of Content“This is a superb collection, edited by two of the leading lights in the field. This volume provides a splendid
view of the rich and varied terrain of contemporary metaethics, with contributions by an all-star roster of
philosophers. Those looking to familiarize themselves with what is happening in metaethics today need look
no further than this immensely helpful handbook.”
Russ Shafer-Landau, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“This is an extremely valuable, comprehensive volume of essays on metaethics. The contributors, whether
veterans or new voices, provide knowledgeable and original perspectives on just about every aspect of con-
temporary metaethical theory.”
Jamie Dreier, Brown University
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The RouTledge handbook of MeTaeThics
This Handbook surveys the contemporary state of the burgeoning field of metaethics.
Forty-four chapters, all written exclusively for this volume, provide expert introductions to
• the central research programs that frame metaethical discussions
• the central explanatory challenges, resources, and strategies that inform contempo-
rary work in those research programs
• debates over the status of metaethics, and the appropriate methods to use in meta-
ethical inquiry
This is essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in metaethics, from those com-
ing to it for the first time to those actively pursuing research in the field.
Tristram McPherson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University.
David Plunkett is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College.
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All chapters for each volume are specially commissioned, and written by leading scholars in the
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The RouTledge handbook
of MeTaeThics
Edited by
Tristram McPherson and David Plunkett
First published 2018
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Taylor & Francis
The right of the editors to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: McPherson, Tristram Colin, 1975- editor. | Plunkett, David, editor.
Title: The Routledge handbook of metaethics / edited by Tristram McPherson
and David Plunkett.
Description: New York: Routledge, 2017. |
Series: Routledge handbooks in philosophy | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016046199 | ISBN 9781138812208 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Metaethics.
Classification: LCC BJ21 .R685 2017 | DDC 170/.42–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016046199
ISBN: 978-1-138-81220-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-21321-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Minion Pro and Frutiger
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
contents
Contributors x
Acknowledgments xv
Preface xvi
Introduction 1
The Nature and Explanatory Ambitions of Metaethics
Tristram McPherson and David Plunkett
Part I: Central OrganIzIng OPtIOns In MetaethICs
1. Non-Naturalistic Realism in Metaethics 29
David Enoch
2. Naturalistic Realism in Metaethics 43
Peter Railton
3. Error Theory in Metaethics 58
Jonas Olson
4. Fictionalism in Metaethics 72
Richard Joyce
5. Metaethical Expressivism 87
Elisabeth Camp
6. Metaethical Contextualism 102
Alex Silk
7. Metaethical Relativism 119
Isidora Stojanovic
viii conTenTs
Part II: Central PrObleMs and strategIes In M etaethICs
8. Realism and Objectivity 135
Billy Dunaway
9. Metaphysical Relations in Metaethics 151
Gideon Rosen
10. The Supervenience Challenge to Non-Naturalism 170
Pekka Väyrynen
11. Vagueness and Indeterminacy in Ethics 185
Tom Dougherty
12. Deontic Modals 194
Jennifer Carr
13. Thick Concepts 211
Debbie Roberts
14. The Frege-Geach Problem 226
Jack Woods
15. Hybrid Accounts of Ethical Thought and Talk 243
Teemu Toppinen
16. Conceptual Role Accounts of Meaning in Metaethics 260
Matthew Chrisman
17. The Significance of Ethical Disagreement for Theories of Ethical
Thought and Talk 275
Gunnar Björnsson
18. Cognitivism and Non-Cognitivism 292
Matthew S. Bedke
19. Ethical Judgment and Motivation 308
David Faraci and Tristram McPherson
20. Reasons Internalism 324
Errol Lord and David Plunkett
21. The Wrong Kind of Reasons 340
Howard Nye
22. Mind-Dependence and Moral Realism 355
Connie S. Rosati
23. Constitutivism 371
Michael Smith
24. Constructivism 385
Melissa Barry
25. Normativity and Agency 402
Hille Paakkunainen
26. Mores and Morals: Metaethics and the Social World 417
Kenneth Walden
conTenTs ix
27. The Autonomy of Ethics 431
Barry Maguire
28. Explanatory Challenges in Metaethics 443
Joshua Schechter
29. Moral Expertise 459
Karen Jones and François Schroeter
30. Intuitionism in Moral Epistemology 472
Elizabeth Tropman
31. Moral Skepticism 484
Matt Lutz and Jacob Ross
32. The Epistemic Significance of Moral Disagreement 499
Dustin Locke
Part III: the status and MethOdOlOgy Of MetaethICs
33. Metasemantics and Metaethics 519
Laura Schroeter and François Schroeter
34. Conceptual Analysis in Metaethics 536
Nicholas Laskowski and Stephen Finlay
35. Ethics and Morality 552
Stephen Darwall
36. The Varieties of Normativity 567
Derek Baker
37. Pragmatism and Metaethics 582
Andrew Sepielli
38. Feminism and Metaethics 595
Amia Srinivasan
39. Experimental Philosophy and Moral Theory 609
Chandra Sripada
40. Quasi-realism 626
Terence Cuneo
41. Metaethical Quietism 643
Doug Kremm and Karl Schafer
42. Methodological Naturalism in Metaethics 659
Daniel Nolan
43. Normative Ethics and Metaethics 674
Mark Schroeder
Index 687
