Dr Ravi Thakral: Moral principles

In this talk I argue that moral principles involve the same sort of generalization as ordinary yet elusive generic generalizations in natural language such as 'Tigers are striped' or 'Peppers are spicy'. The generic view of moral principles simultaneously allows for pessimism and optimism about the role and status of moral principles in our lives: principles are not apt for determining the moral status of particular actions but they may be apt, and even fundamental, to our acquisition of moral knowledge. I will present the implications for our understanding of moral reasoning on this view, and I will also argue that it makes the best sense of variability amongst moral principles, with some regularly warranting exceptions and some appearing arguably exceptionless.