Error theory: Difference between revisions
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'''Error | '''Error theory''' is a fringe idea built on three principles: | ||
# There are no moral features in this world; nothing is right or wrong. | # There are no moral features in this world; nothing is right or wrong. | ||
# Therefore, no moral judgments are true. | # Therefore, no moral judgments are true. | ||
# However, our sincere moral judgments try, but always fail, to describe | # However, our sincere moral judgments try, but always fail, to describe the moral features of things. | ||
Thus, we always lapse into error when thinking in moral terms. We are trying to state | Thus, we always lapse into error when thinking in moral terms. We are trying to state the truth when we make moral judgments. But since there is no moral truth, all of our moral claims are mistaken. Hence the error. These three principles lead to the conclusion that there is no moral knowledge. Knowledge requires truth. If there is no moral truth, there can be no moral knowledge. Thus moral values are purely chimerical.<ref>Shafer-Landau,2010,pp=292–293</ref><ref>Shafer-Landau,2018,294</ref> | ||
===References=== | ===References=== | ||
Revision as of 08:55, 6 February 2023
Error theory is a fringe idea built on three principles:
- There are no moral features in this world; nothing is right or wrong.
- Therefore, no moral judgments are true.
- However, our sincere moral judgments try, but always fail, to describe the moral features of things.
Thus, we always lapse into error when thinking in moral terms. We are trying to state the truth when we make moral judgments. But since there is no moral truth, all of our moral claims are mistaken. Hence the error. These three principles lead to the conclusion that there is no moral knowledge. Knowledge requires truth. If there is no moral truth, there can be no moral knowledge. Thus moral values are purely chimerical.[1][2]