Date of this Version
5-1-2015
Advisor
Jan Willem Lindemans
Second Advisor
Sumantra Sen
Abstract
This thesis considers the problem of how people should deal with moral change. I examine various conceptions of morality and induce the essence of morality, or the set of formal features that is fundamental to all moralities. In particular, I claim that the essence of morality consists of four features: (1) it performs some function (namely, solving the problem of cooperation); (2) it is prescriptive; (3) it is regarded as universalized; and (4) it is regarded as possessing overriding authority over other normative systems. From this, I derive a metamorality or standard of moral progress with which to evaluate moral change, namely the teleologicalf-ormalist conception of morality, which holds that morality progresses if and only if it increasingly exhibits its formal features. This is important because it allows philosophers and policymakers more generally to evaluate moral change and steer moral progress.
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Social Psychology Commons, Theory and Philosophy Commons
Date Posted: 13 April 2016