PHIL 3100 -- Ethical Theory
Fall 2019
Prof. Chris Heathwood
TA: Megan Kitts
University of Colorado Boulder

 

First Paper Assignment:

Cultural Relativism and Moore's No-Disagreement Argument

due Monday, October 7th at Noon


Philosophy Paper FAQ.  Read this first!  It is even more applicable to our class's second paper, which will be a more open-ended one, but it will help for this paper too.  For this first paper, you will be writing on a pre-assigned topic.  We are providing you with the topic and the structure for your paper as well as a choice between two competing theses.

There are no specific word-limits for this paper.  Just do what we ask you to do below and don't feel the need to add in anything extra.

Submit your paper by noon on Monday, October 7th to Megan.Kitts@colorado.edu either by email, in Word format, or by sharing a Google Doc.  Do not submit your paper as a pdf.  Late papers lose 1/3 of a letter grade each day they are late (see #15 on the Philosophy Paper FAQ for more details on the late-paper policy).

We aim to make grading as anonymous as possible.  Consequently, please do not put your name on your paper; use your Student ID instead.

Your topic is Moore's No-Disagreement Argument as Applied to Cultural Relativism (i.e., societal constructivism) in metaethics.  For your thesis, pick one of these two options (whichever one you think is true).

OPTION 1: "When directly applied to Cultural Relativism, Moore's No-Disagreement Argument fails, but a modified version of the argument succeeds in refuting Cultural Relativism."

OPTION 2: "When directly applied to Cultural Relativism, Moore's No-Disagreement Argument fails, and a modified version of the argument tailor-made to apply to Cultural Relativism also fails."

In the title or header of your paper, indicate whether you have taken "OPTION 1" or "OPTION 2." 

OPTION 2 is more challenging because it means that you have to come up with your own criticism of the modified argument.  We will take that into account when grading papers defending OPTION 2.  If you choose OPTION 2, your objection to the modified version of the argument tailor-made to apply to Cultural Relativism might also be an objection to Moore's No-Disagreement Argument as Applied to Humean Subjectivism. That's fine.

Your paper should do these things:

  1. Have an introductory paragraph in which you tell the reader what your topic is and what your thesis is.
  2. Provide the necessary background.  To do this:
    1. Explain Moore's No-Disagreement Argument as Applied to Humean Subjectivism. This will require you to:
      1. Briefly explain Humean Subjectivism.  (In addition to stating the doctrine, say something about it in your own words to get it across to the reader.  It is fine if you discuss only the semantic portion of the doctrine.)
      2. State and explain Moore's No-Disagreement Argument against it.  In doing this, be sure to provide the rationale for each premise of the argument.  (There is no need to provide the rationale for the conclusion; the argument itself provides that.  There is also no need to evaluate this argument.)
    2. State and explain Cultural Relativism.  In doing so, you can consult both Huemer's and Moore's discussions of the doctrine and/or our discussion of it from class.  Be sure to make it very clear what the semantic portion of Cultural Relativism is, since this is the part of the theory that Moore's argument targets.  (In fact, it is fine if you discuss only the semantic portion of the doctrine.)
  3. Defend your thesis.
    1. The first part of your thesis is the claim that "when directly applied to Cultural Relativism, Moore's No-Disagreement Argument fails."  To defend this part of your thesis:
      1. State and explain the argument you get when you plug Cultural Relativism in for Humean Subjectivism in Moore's No-Disagreement Argument as Applied to Humean Subjectivism.
      2. Explain why the resulting argument is unsound. (To do so, clearly identify which premise is false and explain why it is false in a way that would persuade any reasonable reader.)
    2. If you choose OPTION 1, then the second part of your thesis is that a modified version of Moore's argument succeeds in refuting Cultural Relativism.  To defend this part of your thesis:
      1. State and explain this modified argument.  In doing this, be sure to provide the rationale for each premise of the argument.  (There is no need to provide the rationale for the conclusion; the argument itself provides that.)  Present the rationales for these premises in the most persuasive way you can.
    3. If you chose OPTION 2, then the second part of your thesis is that a modified version of Moore's argument tailor-made to apply to Cultural Relativism also fails.  To defend this part of your thesis:
      1. State and explain this modified argument.  In doing this, be sure to provide the rationale for each premise of the argument.  (There is no need to provide the rationale for the conclusion; the argument itself provides that.)  Present the rationales for these premises in the most persuasive way you can.
      2. Explain why this argument is unsound.  To do so, clearly identify which premise is false and explain why it is false in the most persuasive way you can.

Be sure to follow the guidelines on the Philosophy Paper FAQ.