The Ethics of Eating Meat: An Application of Reflective Equilibrium

Is eating meat morally wrong? In this more accessible and easy to read post, I explore four possible ways to approach this question. The first three approaches are brief applications of general ethical theories. The fourth is more specific, utilizing a simple version of Rawlsian reflective equilibrium.

Engel’s Coherence Grounding Justification Is Not Successful

Introduction In his paper, Coherentism and the Epistemic Justification of Moral Beliefs, Mylan Engel Jr. argues for what I refer to as Coherence Grounding Justification (CGJ), “that grounding particular moral judgments on our core moral convictions and other core nonmoral beliefs is, indeed, a legitimate way to justify moral judgments.”[1] To demonstrate this, he uses an example,

Sidgwick’s Prudence is Too Demanding

Introduction Henry Sidgwick considers three axioms to be self-evident moral principles.[1] In this post I will only use two of them: the Axiom of Prudence, which states that we should be impartial about different times in our own lives; and the Maxim of Benevolence[2], which states that we should regard the good of others impartially, that

Objective Moral Truths Can Motivate…Sometimes

The Problem Within the debate between objective and subjective views of morality, a question persists if objective moral truths can motivate moral agents to act. For the purposes of this post I will not address the larger debate since, while relevant, is not the core of the matter for the question being asked. We first