MIXORA CONCEPT
Moral realism
A family of views on which moral claims can state facts and at least some moral claims are true.
Moral realists disagree about whether moral facts are natural, non-natural, reducible or known in a special way. Realism concerns the status of moral claims, not confidence that one's own moral beliefs are correct.
What “Interpretation” means
This is a philosophical distinction, theory or contested way of organizing a question—not an empirical diagnosis with one universally accepted answer.
VISUAL EXPLANATION · MARKER BOARDA realist can hold that cruelty is wrong even when a society approves of it.
Moral realism does not imply universal agreement, easy moral knowledge or one specific ethical theory.
Is the moral claim presented as reporting a fact, expressing an attitude or stating a rule?
A family of views that make the truth or justification of moral judgments relative to a framework, culture or standpoint.
→thought × bridgeOntologyThe part of metaphysics concerned with what exists and which basic kinds of things there are.
→thought × bridgeEpistemologyThe branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, justification, evidence, rational belief and their limits.
→thoughtDeontologyA family of moral theories centered on duties, permissions, prohibitions or rights rather than consequences alone.
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References
Last reviewed
- 01Moral RealismReference source
Geoff Sayre-McCord · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Accounts on which moral claims can report facts and some are true.
What the source labels mean
- Primary source
- Original work, experiment, standard or historical text.
- Academic source
- Scholarly research or review published for an academic audience.
- Reference source
- An expert standard, encyclopedia or institutional explanation that summarizes a field.
- General reference
- A practical specialist resource useful for application, but not treated as decisive research by itself.