The Origin of Oughtness: A Case for Metaethical Conativism

298 Pages·2018·1.459 MB·English

by  Fischer, Stefan

Stefan Fischer
The Origin of Oughtness
Practical Philosophy
Edited by
Herlinde Pauer-Studer, Neil Roughley,
Peter Schaber, and Ralf Stoecker
Volume 22
Stefan Fischer
The Origin of
Oughtness
A Case for Metaethical Conativism
This work was accepted as a PhD thesis by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University
of Zurich in the spring semester 2016 on the recommendation of the Doctoral Committee:
Prof. Dr. Peter Schaber (main supervisor) and Prof. Dr. Peter Stemmer (external supervisor).
ISBN 978-3-11-060072-8
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-059978-7
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-059925-1
ISSN 2197-9243
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018946347.
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
|
Tothosewho’retaughttheyoughttoφ
butsomehow,madly,can’tseewhy.

Preface and Acknowledgments
ThisbookisarevisedversionofmyPhDthesisonthenatureofnormativitythat
wasacceptedbytheFacultyofArtsandSocialSciences,UniversityofZurichin
spring2016.MyadvisorswerePeterSchaber(Zurich)andPeterStemmer(Kon-
stanz).Sincetheysitinquiteoppositecampsregardingthenatureofnormativity,
oneofmyearlygoalswasto,maybe,helpthemreachsomephilosophicalcommon
ground.Ultimately,Isucceeded.Myadvisorsreadilyagreedonthemainflawsof
myarguments.Thankstotheircriticism,Ihadaclearconceptionofwhatwould
havetobechangedbeforepublication.AndsoIgottoworkagain.Ittookawhile.
Buttoday,IfeellikethechangesImadehaveimprovedthebookquiteabit.Ihope
myadvisorswillagree.Ialsohopethat,ifIstillsayimplausiblethings—asIalmost
inevitablydo—Isaythemmoreclearlynow.
AsfarasIremember,IfirstbecameinterestedinmetaethicswhenFredFeldman
presentedanargumentinhisseminaronethicsattheUniversityofMassachusetts
inautumn2009.Accordingtoethicalegoism,hesaid,Ishouldstealmoneyfrom
thesleepinghomelessguy’shat.Therefore,egoismisfalse.
Asayounggraduatestudentofphilosophy,Ifoundthisargumenttrulybaffling.
Gatheringallmycourage,Iraisedmyhandandsuggestedthatitseemedtomea
premisewasmissing.HeaskedmewhatIthoughtthemissingpremisewas.‘Itis
wrongtostealmoneyfromthesleepinghomelessguy’shatandwenevershould
dosomethingwrong,orsomethinglikethat’,Ireplied.Hecongratulatedmefor
havingfoundthemissingpremiseandcontinuedlecturing.
Inthefollowingweeks,IpressedFredregardingthesourcesofthemissing
premise.Itdawnedonmethathereallybelievedittobeobjectivelywrongtosteal
themoney.And,whatmadethingsevenworseinmyopinion,hereadilyproclaimed
thatitwasjustintuitivelyobvious.Iwasconfused.Duringmyundergraduate
studiesattheUniversityofKonstanzIhadbeen‘trained’inarathersubjectivist
fashion.Myundergraduateadvisorshadlikedtoputdesirescenterstage.Also,
theyhadnotheldcommonsenseintuitionsinparticularlyhighphilosophical
regardandallinallconcurredthatanobjectivistunderstandingofmorality—
especiallyoneperceivedviapurportedlyself-evidentintuitions—wasqueerand
unintelligible.
Oneday,IfoundmyselfsittinginFred’soffice,stillamazedbythefactthatIhad
actuallymetanobjectivistmoralrealistintheflesh.Iaskedhimifhehadeverheard
oftheargumentsofacertainJ.L.Mackie.Havingpreparedmyselfmeticulously
byreadingtherelevantpassagesinmydormroom,IreportedwhatMackiehad
arguedandconcludedthatnothingcanbeobjectivelywrong,muchlikeMackie
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110599787-201
VIII | PrefaceandAcknowledgments
said.Fredlistenedtomewithoutanyexpression.Aftermyshortpresentationof
Mackie’sconsiderations,Fredlookedatmeforafewseconds,turnedaround,and
pulledareviewofMackie’sEthicsoutoftheshelf.(Hehimselfhadwrittenitback
in1979.)Inacalmandfriendlyvoice,hesuggestedthatIreaditandadded—since
Ihadthrowntheterm‘naturalisticfallacy’athimafewtimesintheprevious
weeks—thatFrankena’scorrectinterpretationofG.E.Moore’sappealtothefallacy
inquestionmightalsohelptorelievemyconfusion.
BackinKonstanzforthesecondhalfofmygraduatestudies,Idecidedtowrite
athesisonthequeernessofmoralfacts.Inthecourseofthisendeavor,however,I
begantorealizethatmoralfactsaremerelyasubclassofnormativefactsandthat
mymaininterestconcernedthequestionofhowitcouldeverbetruethatIought
todoanything.WhenIwrotetheconcludingpartsofmythesis,inwhich—tono
one’sgreatastonishment,perhaps—IeventuallyagreedwithMackie’squeerness
accusation, my mind was already set on broadening my metaethical research
andturningtothenatureofnormativefacts.IenrolledinaPhDprogramatthe
UniversityofZurichbecausemyformeradvisor,PeterStemmer,hadpointedout
thatonecouldfindquiteafewobjectiviststhere.Iwasattractedbytheideaofbeing
continuouslyexposedtodifferentphilosophicalcultures.SincethenIcommuted
betweentheUniversityofZurich,wherePeterSchaberhadagreedtobecomemy
doctoraladvisor,andtheUniversityofKonstanz,wherePeterStemmerhadagreed
toplaythepartofsecondarydoctoraladvisor.
DuringtheweeklydoctoralcolloquiaattheCenterforEthicsinZurichitsoon
becameclearthatpeoplefoundmydesire-orientedapproachtonormativityand
moralityratherawkward.Ontopofthat,Ihadtheunfortunatetendencytogive
anyphilosophicaldiscussionaboutnormativeissuesametaethicalturn,whichin-
curredfurtherirritation.EverytimewewerediscussingnormativeethicsIcouldn’t
helpthinkingthatitisnecessarytosettlethemetaethicalissuesfirst.Howcould
youpossiblyanswerthequestionofwhetherfriendshipprovidesuswithspecial
obligations—additionalthingsweoughttodo—withouteverhavingdevelopeda
clearaccountofwhatmakesought-claimstrue?Inshort:Itseemedtomethatwe
must‘figureout’metaethicsbeforeturningtoethics.Thisisaradicalview,Iknow.
Iwouldn’tdefendittoday.ButIstillcannotgetridoftheimpressionthatsome
philosophicaldiscussionsofnormativeorappliedethicsaren’tparticularlyfruitful
withoutaclear-cutmetaethicalframework,atleastinthebackground.
TothesameextenttowhichmyphilosophicalcompanionsinZurichfound
mysubjectivistsympathiesawkward,peopleinKonstanzstartedtosuspectthat,
regrettably,Ihadbeenmoreandmoreinfluencedbythedarksideofphilosophy.I
metphilosophicalastonishmentagain,butthistimewhenIwasdefendingsome
oftheobjectivistpointsIhadcometofindfairlyconvincing.Myoriginalidea,I
think,paidoff:Beingexposedtothesedifferentphilosophicalculturespressed
PrefaceandAcknowledgments | IX
me to sharpen my arguments. I believe that this book reflects my commuting
between subjectivist Konstanz and objectivist Zurich. I have sincerely tried to
understandtherationalesofobjectivismandsubjectivism—or,asIamgoingto
callitinwhatfollows:Humeanism.Inparticular,Ihaveattemptedtoelucidate
thedifferentapproachestonormativitythetwocampsapply.Oneoftheresults
ofthisinvestigationisthatthequestionofwhichcampweshouldjoinlargely
dependsonwhichapproachwefindmoreconvincing.AndhereIhopetohave
givenaconvincinganswer.Oneanticipatoryconfessionregardingthisanswer:
EventhoughIhavetriedtoscrutinizeobjectivistandHumeanviewsasneutrally
asIcould,ImustobservethatIhaveendedupwithaviewthatisfairlysimilarto
theviewadministeredbymyphilosophicalbreastmilk.Iliketothinkthatthisis
soinvirtueofacarefulbalancingoftherelevantphilosophicalarguments.
Iwanttothankmytwoadvisors,PeterSchaberandPeterStemmer,fortheirencour-
agingsupportandforsteeringmeawayfromafewphilosophicaltacksIhad—abit
hastily,perhaps—startedtofollow.Atleasthalfofthisbookwaswritteninanoffice
whichIwasnotofficiallyentitledtomakeuseof—PeterStemmernevertheless
foundakeyforme.HanjoGlock,headofmyPhDprograminZurich,organized(and
helpedusstudentsorganize)manyexcellentworkshopsfromwhichIhaveprofited
alot.TheFoundationofGermanBusiness(StiftungderDeutschenWirtschaft)
generouslyenabledmetospendthreeentireyearsdoingphilosophyinKonstanz,
Zurich,andOxford.WorkingonsomethingIlovewithouthavingtoworryabout
financial‘banalities’hasbeenaninvaluableexperience.Moreover,I’vehadthe
privilegetoparticipateinacoupleofrewardingeventsandworkshopsthathad
onlylittletodowithphilosophy,but—alas!—withlifeandsocietybeyondtheivory
tower.Itturnsoutthatworkneedstobedonethereaswell.Iwon’tforget.
IwouldalsoliketothankallparticipantsofthedoctoralcolloquiainZurichand
Konstanz,butafewdeservespecialcredit:ThomasDiemar,MichelMeliopoulos,
SebastianMuders,FelixTimmermann,FabianStöhr,andChristianWendelborn
havehelpedmeunderstandmanythingsbetter.WolfgangEgnerandFlorianWiec-
zorekreadchapterdraftsandsentmehelpfulcomments.Onseveralhillsinthe
PeakDistrict,butalsooverlunchanddinnerinSheffieldandKonstanz,Jimmy
LenmancriticizedandsupportedmyHumeanendeavors.ChristophHalbig,Jacob
Rosenthal,andGottfriedSeebaßweregenerousenoughtofindtimeforpersonal
discussions.Iprofitedtremendouslyfromalltheseconversations.UllaWesselsand
ChristophFehigeinvitedmetotheircolloquiumatanearlystageofmyPhD-career
todebatethegeneralapproachofmythesis.RalfBaderhospitablywelcomedme
atMertonCollegeforaresearchstayattheUniversityofOxfordduringMichaelmas
2014.There,I’vealsohadtheluckychancetobouncemythoughtsoffLeoMenges
X | PrefaceandAcknowledgments
duringbeautifulautumnwalksinChristChurchMeadow—amostwelcomeand
livelychangetothemanyhoursspentstaringatbooks.
JoRichersdesignedthegrounding-illustrationsthatappearhereandthere
throughoutthebook.Iamconvincedthattheyhelptomakethingseasiertounder-
stand.(And,well,theylooknice.)MartinZimmermannwasapreciousreviewerof
myinsufficientmasteryofEnglish.Itneedn’tbesaidthattheremaininglinguistic
calamitiesareentirelymine.
Moreover,Iwouldliketothankmyfriendsforbeingthepartofmylifethatis
notphilosophy.Dragonhunts,hikesinthealpsandintheBlackForest,squash
matches,whiskeytastings,countlessdiscussions(somegoneastray),andboard
gamenights(somegoneevenfartherastray)...Iwouldn’tmissitforthelifeofme
andI’msurewe’llpulloffthespermwhaleattackonBigBoneday.
Onmywaytowardsbecomingaphilosopher,myparentshavelovinglysup-
portedme,eventhoughtheysometimesdidn’tfullyunderstandmyworkwhenI
triedtodescribeit.Still,theyhavetrustedmewithouthesitation.Parentingdoesn’t
getmuchbetterthanthat.I’malsothankfulforhavingakind-heartedsister,who
bringsthesunalongwherevershegoesandwhoseenthusiasmIadmiregreatly.
Overthelastsixyears,whenIcamehomeafteralongdayofwork,therewas
Hanna.Nothing’sbetterthansharingalifewithyou;except,maybe,sharingit
withlittleJoshua,watchinghimgrowtogether.Let’sseeifwecanteachhimtodo
whatheoughttodo.
Konstanz,June27,2018