Ethics After Babel

Philosophers used to speak as if there were a single, essentially unitary object to be studied in ethics; something called 'the language of morals'. Now they speak as if there are many moral languages. This new talk, fashionable throughout the humanities and social sciences, has nonetheless inspired discontent. Jeffrey Stout's discussion of this discontent opens up a fresh perspective on moral diversity. "I won't disprove moral nihilism or moral scepticism" - he says - "No knockdown argument, intended to demolish opposing positions, will be given. I will try to show simply that the facts of moral diversity don't compelus to become nihilists or sceptics, to abandon the notions of moral truth and justified moral belief."Read less