Lecture 08

Date given: Thursday, 6th March 2025

Handout for all of Lecture 08 as pdf. (This has the same content as the web version you are reading here.)

Essay Questions

This lecture is relevant for answering the following questions:

• long essay question 3, What do dual-process theories of moral cognition claim? Is there sufficient evidence to accept, or reject, such a theory?

• long essay question 5, What is Rawls’ method of reflective equilibrium? Do discoveries in moral psychology show that the use of this method is unjustified?

• long essay question 7, Do discoveries in moral psychology reveal that ethical arguments should not rely on premises which are not justified inferentially if the aim of the argument is to establish knowledge of its conclusion?

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Table of contents

• Dual Process Theories: Objections, Evidence and Significance
• Evidence for Dual Process Theories
• Conflicting Evidence against a Dual-Process Theory of Moral Judgement
• Against Reflective Equilibrium
• Conclusion: No End to Our Troubles
• Appendix: Dual Process Theory and Auxiliary Hypotheses