TY - JOUR
T1 - Is the Naturalistic Fallacy Dead (and If So, Ought It Be?)
AU - Harman, Oren
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Morality
KW - Naturalistic fallacy
KW - Neurobiology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84864612982&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10739-012-9332-x
DO - 10.1007/s10739-012-9332-x
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C2 - 22733174
SN - 0022-5010
VL - 45
SP - 557
EP - 572
JO - Journal of the History of Biology
JF - Journal of the History of Biology
IS - 3
ER -