Author: Ian Tully Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 1000 From roughly §243 to §315 in his Philosophical Investigations, the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) lays out what later commentators have dubbed "the private language argument."1 Wittgenstein imagines a case roughly like the following: Suppose a person is stranded on a deserted island … Continue reading Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Private Language Argument
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Moral Error Theory: Are there Moral Facts?
According to the meta-ethical theory known as “error theory,” it is false that abusing children for fun is morally wrong (and false that it’s morally right, too!). This is because, according to error theory, all moral judgments are false. This essay explores this counterintuitive view.
Situationism and Virtue Ethics
Author: Ian Tully Category: Ethics Word Count: 995 Moral philosophers are no longer merely interested in assessing our conduct (e.g., don’t lie!’) or the outcomes we bring about (e.g., more happiness is better!); many now agree that ethics needs to be concerned with our characters, too. What matters isn’t just what we do, but who we are. … Continue reading Situationism and Virtue Ethics