No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Deference and Ideals of Practical Agency
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2021
Abstract
This paper develops a moderate pessimist account of moral deference. I argue that while some pessimist explanations of the puzzle of moral deference have been misguided in matters of detail, they nevertheless share an important insight, namely that there is a justified moral agency ideal grounded in pro tanto reasons against moral deference. This thought is unpacked in terms of a set of values associated with the practice of morality. I conclude by suggesting that the solution to the puzzle of moral deference developed here gives us a plausible recipe for generalizing to certain cases of nonmoral deference as well.
- Type
- Article
- Information
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Canadian Journal of Philosophy
References
Callahan, Laura. 2018. “Moral Testimony: A Re-conceived Understanding Explanation.” The Philosophical Quarterly 68 (272): 437–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cholbi, Michael. 2007. “Moral Expertise and the Credentials Problem.” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 10 (4): 323–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crisp, Roger. 2014. “Moral Testimony Pessimism: A Defence.” Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 88 (1): 129–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davia, Cory, and Palmira, Michele. 2015. “Moral Deference and Deference to an Epistemic Peer.” The Philosophical Quarterly 65 (261): 605–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgin, Catherine. 2009. “Is Understanding Factive?” In Epistemic Value, edited by Haddock, Adrian, Millar, Alan, and Pritchard, Duncan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Enoch, David. 2014. “A Defense of Moral Deference.” The Journal of Philosophy 111 (5): 229–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, Guy. 2016. “Moral Testimony: Once More with Feeling.” In Oxford Studies in Metaethics Vol. 11, edited by Shafer-Landau, Russ, 45–73. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankena, William. 1973. “Toward a Philosophy of Moral Education.” In Moral Education, edited by Chazan, Barry I. and Soltis, Jonas F.. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Fricker, Elizabeth. 2006. “Testimony and Epistemic Autonomy.” In The Epistemology of Testimony, edited by Lackey, Jennifer and Sosa, Ernest, 225–50. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottlieb, Sara, and Lombrozo, Tania. 2018. “Folk Theories in the Moral Domain.” In Atlas of Moral Psychology, edited by Gray, Kurt and Graham, Jesse. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Hazlett, Allan. 2017. “Towards Social Accounts of Testimonial Asymmetries.” Noûs 51 (1): 49–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hills, Alison. 2009. “Moral Testimony and Moral Epistemology.” Ethics 120 (1): 94–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, Robert. 2007. “What Is Wrong with Moral Testimony?” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 74 (3): 611–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howell, Robert. 2014. “Google Morals, Virtue, and the Asymmetry of Deference.” Noûs 48 (3): 389–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Karen. 1999. “Second-Hand Moral Knowledge.” The Journal of Philosophy 96 (2): 55–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, Max. 2020a. “Moral Deference, Moral Assertion, and Pragmatics.” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 23: 5–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, Max. 2020b. “The New Puzzle of Moral Deference.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 50 (4): 460–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lombrozo, Tania. 2006. “The Structure and Function of Explanations.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 10 (10): 464–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lord, Errol. 2018. “How to Learn about Aesthetics and Morality through Acquaintance and Deference.” In Oxford Studies in Metaethics Vol. 13, edited by Shafer-Landau, Russ. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McGrath, Sarah. 2009. “The Puzzle of Pure Moral Deference.” Philosophical Perspectives 23 (1): 321–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGrath, Sarah. 2011. “Skepticism About Moral Expertise as a Puzzle for Moral Realism.” The Journal of Philosophy 108 (3): 111–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McShane, Paddy. 2018. “The Non-remedial Value of Dependence on Moral Testimony.” Philosophical Studies 175 (3): 629–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mogensen, Andreas. 2017. “Moral Testimony Pessimism and the Uncertain Value of Authenticity.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 95 (2): 261–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nickel, Philip. 2001. “Moral Testimony and Its Authority.” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 4 (3): 253–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, Marjorie, and Wellman, Henry. 2017. “Moral Learning as Intuitive Theory Revision.” Cognition 167: 191–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sliwa, Paulina. 2012. “In Defense of Moral Testimony.” Philosophical Studies 158 (2): 175–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sliwa, Paulina. 2017. “Moral Understanding as Knowing Right from Wrong.” Ethics 127 (3): 521–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiland, Eric. 2014. “Rossian Deontology and the Possibility of Moral Expertise.” In Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics Vol. 4, edited by Shafer-Landau, Russ. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wiland, Eric. 2017. “Moral Testimony: Going on the Offensive.” In Oxford Studies in Metaethics Vol. 12, edited by Shafer-Landau, Russ. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, Bernard. 1995. Making Sense of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar