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Skepticism, Moral

Moral skepticism refers to a class of metaethical theories that deny or raise doubts about various roles of reason in morality. Various versions of moral skepticism challenge moral knowledge, justified moral belief, moral truth, moral facts or properties, and reasons to be moral. Many moral skeptics claim that moral knowledge is a utopian dream. This entry first discusses the forms and varieties of moral skepticism and then examines by arguments for and against this class of metaethical theories.

Forms of Moral Skepticism

There are three subclasses of moral skepticism: (1) moral error theory, (2) epistemological moral skepticism, and (3) noncognitivism. All three of these theories share two major conclusions:

  • There are no justifications for believing that moral claims are true.
  • Moreover, we never know that any moral claim is ...
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