Coerentismo epistemológico e realismo moral : uma aproximação

Abstract

The attempt to integrate realism and morality is as old as it is controversial. This thesis is part of the controversy by presenting the limits and possibilities of a naturalistic approach to moral realism. Focusing on the epistemological aspects of the debate, this work aims to compare and problematize metaethical theories which endorse coherentism for the justification of moral beliefs. On the one hand, constructivist theories are the most well-known example of coherentism for the moral domain, in particular by their application of the so-called Reflective Equilibrium method of justification. Constructivists support a systemic method of justification and are metaphysical anti-realists about the nature of values. On the other hand, synthetic naturalistic realism, also known as Cornell Realism, adopts both coherentism about justification and a realistic, correspondence theory of truth. After assessing these two approaches to aplying coherentism to ethics, I argue for the latter, whereby Reflective Equilibrium is employed not to contruct, but to track evaluative properties. In order to do that, I initially defend the plausibility of moral realism against a series of charges, ranging from the most naïve, such as accusations of dogmatism and intolerance, to the most refined, as the Argument from Queerness. Next, the overall possibility of coherentist justification is discussed and it is claimed that realism is superior to anti-realism regarding general coherentist commitments. The version of naturalistic realism that emerges out of this starts from the idea of applying the notion of natural kinds to the moral domain with the aim of showing that evaluative properties may be just as unmysterious as the properties postulated by our best scientific theories. The debate on normativity and prescriptivity is not put aside. Rather, normativity is conceived in such a way as to avoid any commitment to an extravagant or sui generis account of moral properties. Thus, what is aimed for in this thesis is the construction of an explanatory framework that is able to reconcile moral investigation with the world as investigated and described by the natural sciences.