Metaphysical Structure for Moral Realists

Abstract

Abstract This chapter aims to help readers understand competing ways of thinking about the metaphysical commitments associated with different forms of “moral realism.” It explains a range of competing ways of understanding moral realism as a metaphysical thesis. It also discusses competing ways of understanding the metaphysical categories that feature centrally in debates among moral realists, such as reductive and nonreductive moral naturalism, and Moorean non-naturalism. In doing so, it aims to make clearer the relationship between these ways of thinking about morality, and a range of background views in metaphysics. These include views about properties and individuals; truths, propositions, and facts; and modal and grounding ideology.