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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

193377

Intuitions, experiments, and armchairs

Nikil Mukerji

pp. 227-243

Abstract

Most ethicists agree that moral doctrines should fit our moral intuitions. They disagree, however, about the interpretation of this evaluative criterion. Some predominantly draw on low-level intuitions about cases (e.g., Foot, 1978; Kamm, 2007; Thomson, 1976). Others believe that we should rather trust our high-level intuitions about moral principles (e.g., Hare, 1981; Singer, 1974; Singer, 2005). In this paper, I examine and reject three empirically informed arguments against the former view: the argument from disagreement, the argument from framing effects, and debunking explanations. I will not argue that we are immediately justified to accept our low-level intuitions about cases as moral beliefs. I merely want to dispel doubts about a considerably weaker claim, viz. that at least some of our low-level intuitions can count as evidence for (or against) a moral theory.

Publication details

Published in:

Luetge Christoph, Rusch Hannes, Uhl Matthias (2014) Experimental ethics: toward an empirical moral philosophy. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 227-243

DOI: 10.1057/9781137409805_15

Full citation:

Mukerji Nikil (2014) „Intuitions, experiments, and armchairs“, In: C. Luetge, H. Rusch & M. Uhl (eds.), Experimental ethics, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 227–243.