Michael Huemer explains his full argument for objective morality | Seeing Clearly [oQSzUSPlBYG]
Michael Humor is a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Colorado and one of the leading proponents of moral realism: the thesis that there are true, objective moral facts. In this episode we run through the full argument for the existence of objective morality based on his book Ethical Intuitionism. I do my best to pressure Professor Huemer by steel-manning the anti-realist position. Link to buy Michael Huemer’s book Ethical Intuitionism: 0:00 — Highlights 1:01 — What is metaethics? 2:52 — The 5 metaethical theories 10:58 — Why are philosophers, and not linguists, talking about semantics? 13:36 — Why non-cognitivism (emotivism, prescriptivism) is wrong 19:11 — Why quasi-realism is wrong 24:09 — Why naturalism is wrong 27:49 — The Open Question argument and can we just deny it? 29:34 — Is the is/ought gap real? 33:11 — If normative facts depend entirely on descriptive facts, are they really different? 37:16 — Why subjectivism is wrong 54:04 — The Principle of Phenomenal Conservatism 55:54 — Can intuitions be wrong? 56:41 — Why nihilism is wrong 58:11 — Isn’t it more intuitive to be a nihilist given a modern scientific worldview? 1:10:09 — What if someone just doesn’t have realist intuitions? 1:18:44 — Does evolution debunk morality? 1:25:42 — How could we possibly know “non-natural” moral facts? Can meditation help? 1:36:25 — If you’re wrong about morality, does anything bad actually happen? 1:39:16 — What are moral statements true *about*?? 1:46:19 — Does the Form of the Good = a value attractor state? 1:48:48 — Do souls exist? Michael Huermer's Substack: Michael Huemer's X: My Substack (long form philosophy + memes): My X: My Instagram (short form philosophy): / c.x.gonzalez My Tiktok (short form philosophy): / cxgonzalez Seeing Clearly on Spotify: Seeing Clearly on Apple Podcasts: