IDEA FOUND // IDEA 67
Moral Realism
“Can an act be unjust even when everyone approves of it?”
01 / PLAINLY
What it means, plainly
Moral realism broadly says that at least some moral claims can be true independently of anyone's approval.
02 / CONTEXT
A little more
Moral realism broadly holds that at least some moral claims state facts whose truth does not depend on our approval. Realists disagree about what kind of facts these could be.
03 / WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
It stops us from confusing popularity, law, or consensus with what would make a moral judgment true.
04 / EXAMPLE
A familiar example
A realist can hold that enslavement was wrong even in societies where law and custom accepted it.
05 / LIMIT
What it does not mean
It guarantees neither consensus nor certainty nor a special faculty that detects value without argument.
06 / NOTICE
Notice it in your day
Choose a widely accepted rule and finish two sentences: “people approve it because…” and “it would be right if…”. Compare whether your answers say the same thing.
FINAL NOTE
The idea worth keeping
Separate the popularity of a judgment from the question of what would make it true.
QUESTIONS / 02
Questions people still have
What kind of independence does moral realism claim?
It says the truth of at least some moral judgments does not simply depend on our approval.
Does moral realism guarantee certainty or agreement?
No. Realists can disagree about moral facts and about how people could know them.