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Problems for moral/natural supervenience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2010

DAVID E. ALEXANDER
DAVID E. ALEXANDER
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Huntington University, 2303 College Avenue Huntington, IN 46750 e-mail: dalexander@huntington.edu
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Abstract

‘Everyone agrees that the moral features of things supervene on their natural features’ (Smith (1994),22). Everyone is wrong, or so I will argue. In the first section, I explain the version of moral supervenience that Smith and others argue everyone should accept. In the second section, I argue that the mere conceptual possibility of a divine command theory of morality (DCT) is sufficient to refute the version of moral supervenience under consideration. Lastly, I consider and respond to two objections, showing, among other things, that while DCT is sufficient to refute this version of moral supervenience it is not necessary.

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Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 73 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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