On the meta-ethical status of constructivism: reflections on G.A. Cohen's `Facts and Principles'

Miriam Ronzoni and Laura Valentini
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Miriam Ronzoni: European University Institute, Italy
Laura Valentini: The Queen's College, Oxford, UK

Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 2008, vol. 7, issue 4, 403-422

Abstract: In his article `Facts and Principles', G.A. Cohen attempts to refute constructivist approaches to justification by showing that, contrary to what their proponents claim, fundamental normative principles are fact- in sensitive. We argue that Cohen's `fact-insensitivity thesis' does not provide a successful refutation of constructivism because it pertains to an area of meta-ethics which differs from the one tackled by constructivists. While Cohen's thesis concerns the logical structure of normative principles, constructivists ask how normative principles should be justified . In particular, their claim that justified fundamental normative principles are fact-sensitive follows from a commitment to agnosticism about the existence of objective moral facts. We therefore conclude that, in order to refute constructivism, Cohen would have to address questions of justification, and take a stand on those long-standing meta-ethical debates about the ontological status of moral notions (for example, realism versus anti-realism) with respect to which he himself wants to remain agnostic.

Keywords: John Rawls; normative justification; realism versus anti-realism; methodological versus substantive principles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:pophec:v:7:y:2008:i:4:p:403-422

DOI: 10.1177/1470594X08095751

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