In Search of the Trinity

A Dilemma for Parfit’s Conciliatory Project

Bibliographic Data

ID21701889
AuthorsMarius Baumann (0009-0004-5966-4247, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume24
Issue4
Pages999-1018
Publication date2021-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthical Theory and Moral Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1386-2820 • E-ISSN: 1572-8447
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10677-021-10161-z
OpenAlexW3166614059
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited24

I outline a dilemma for Derek Parfit’s project to vindicate moral realism. In On What Matters , Parfit argues that the best versions of three of the main moral traditions agree on a set of moral principles, which should make us more confident about the prospects of truth in ethics. I show that the result of this Convergence Argument can be interpreted in two ways. Either there remain three separate and deontically equivalent theories or there remains just one theory, the Triple Theory. Both interpretations fail to deliver what Parfit is looking for. The first interpretation leads to a situation of underdetermination of theory choice that gives rise to a skeptical challenge. The second interpretation jettisons Parfit’s Conciliatory Project, that is, the reconciliation of the three moral traditions. The dilemma, I contend, is the result of Parfit failing to resolve two antithetical lines of thought. His search for the Trinity of moral theorizing must thus fail

Dilemma · Epistemology · Ontology · Philosophy of science · Realism · Skepticism · Underdetermination · Free Will and Agency · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · War, Ethics, and Justification

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