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Douglas_Knight comments on Why didn't people (apparently?) understand the metaethics sequence? - Less Wrong Discussion

12 Post author: ChrisHallquist 29 October 2013 11:04PM

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Comment author: Douglas_Knight 30 October 2013 12:44:39AM *  -2 points [-]

Eliezer says loudly that he is a moral realist and not any sort of relativist

Yes, he loudly says he's not a relativist, but he doesn't loudly talk about realism. If you ask him whether he's a moral realist, he'll say yes, but if you ask him for a self-description, he'll say cognitivist w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶t̶e̶n̶ ̶g̶r̶o̶u̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶s̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶s̶m̶. Moreover, if asked for detail, he'll say that he's an anti-realist. (though not all cognitivists are anti-realists)


Let me try that again: Eliezer loudly claims to be cognitivist. He quietly equivocates on realism. He also loudly claims not to be relativist, but practically everyone does.

Comment author: gjm 30 October 2013 01:32:38AM 3 points [-]

cognitivist, which is often grouped against realism

Is it? That seems backwards to me: non-cognitivism is one of the main varieties of non realism. (The other being error theory.) What am I missing?