Ethics in a realistic spirit

Thesis

Cora Diamond has suggested that philosophers should approach ethics in a realistic spirit. This thesis is an attempt to explain what this might mean. The realistic spirit is Diamond's distinctive take on realism, derived from her reading of Wittgenstein. Chapter 1 provides a detailed study of Diamond's account of the realistic spirit, identifying three central features: the realistic spirit 1) moves beyond the traditional opposition between realism and anti-realism, 2) is a fantasy-avoiding spirit with a perfectionist dimension and 3) is not distinctively philosophical. In Chapters 2-5 I assess how the realistic spirit thus understood might be brought to bear on ethics by exploring the moral philosophies of Diamond (Chapter 2), Sophie Grace Chappell (Chapter 3) and Charles Taylor (Chapters 4 and 5). These chapters make the case that each respective project exemplifies features of the realistic spirit, but that the three projects are not equally successful in their attempts to live up to this spirit. Chappell's ethics ultimately falls back on the realist/anti-realist dichotomy, thereby failing to meet one of the criteria for the realistic spirit. Diamond's and Taylor's projects both meet the criteria, but in very different ways: Taylor attempts to exemplify the realistic spirit by articulating a positive account of ethics, while Diamond attempts to exemplify the realistic spirit by limiting her ethics to criticism. In Chapter 6, this tension is overcome by exploring Taylor and Diamond's shared roots in Wittgenstein. It is shown that the realistic spirit is internally coherent despite manifesting in radically different forms.

Authors: Burleigh, B

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-vmgnp2yze
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: moral realism; cora diamond; ethics; epiphanies; Sophie Grace Chappell; Wittgenstein; Charles Taylor
• Subjects: Ethics; Moral realism