Justin Morton

University of California, Davis, Philosophy, Faculty Member

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I'm a Visiting Assistant Professor at UC-Davis. I am interested in ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. I am particularly interested in the epistemology and metaphysics of normativity. Recently I've been thinking a lot about epistemological objections to normative realism (e.g., the evolutionary debunking argument against normative realism) as well as trying to figure out exactly how normative facts are (or aren't!) metaphysically grounded.
Supervisors: Jonathan Dancy, Russ Shafer-Landau
Address: Austin, Texas

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A New Evolutionary Debunking Argument Against Moral Realism

Evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) claim that evolution has influenced our moral faculties i... more Evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) claim that evolution has influenced our moral faculties in such a way that, if moral realism is true, then we have no positive moral knowledge. I present several popular objections to the standard version of this argument, then give a new EDA that has clear advantages in responding to these objections. Whereas the Standard EDA argues that evolution has selected for many moral beliefs with certain contents, this New EDA claims that evolution has selected for one belief: belief in the claim that categorical reasons exist. If moral realism is true, then this claim is entailed by all positive moral claims, and belief in it is defeated due to evolutionary influence. This entails that if realism is true, then we have no positive moral knowledge. While there may be objections against this New EDA, it is much stronger than the Standard EDA, and one realists ought to worry about.

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Parsimony and the Argument from Queerness | Res Philosophica (a special issue on moral nonnaturalism)

by Eric Sampson and Justin Morton

In his recent book Error Theory: History, Critique, Defence, Jonas Olson attempts to revive the a... more In his recent book Error Theory: History, Critique, Defence, Jonas Olson attempts to revive the argument from queerness originally made famous by J.L. Mackie. In this paper, we do three things. First, we eliminate four untenable formulations of the argument. Second, we argue that the most plausible formulation is one that depends crucially upon considerations of parsimony. Finally, we evaluate this formulation of the argument. We conclude that it is unproblematic for proponents of moral non-naturalism—the target of the argument from queerness.

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Parsimony and the Argument from Queerness

by Justin Morton and Eric Sampson

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A New Evolutionary Debunking Argument Against Moral Realism

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Parsimony and the Argument from Queerness | Res Philosophica (a special issue on moral nonnaturalism)

by Eric Sampson and Justin Morton

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Parsimony and the Argument from Queerness

by Justin Morton and Eric Sampson

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Justin Morton

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