We are pleased to announce the next installment of Ethics discussions at PEA Soup, which will feature an article by Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer, "The Objectivity of Ethics and the Unity of Practical Reason" (Ethics, volume 123, issue 1). We are also very pleased that Roger Crisp
has accepted our invitation to be the Lead Discussant.
In keeping with our partnership with Ethics, a free copy of the article can be found here. Professor Crisp's post will appear, and discussion will begin, December 3. We invite anyone interested to participate. Abstract below the fold…
Evolutionary accounts of the origins of human morality may lead us to doubt the truth of our moral judgments. Sidgwick tried to vindicate ethics from this kind of external attack. However, he ended The Methods in despair over another problem – an apparent conflict between rational egoism and universal benevolence, which he called "the dualism of practical reason". Drawing on Sidgwick, we show that one way of defending objectivity in ethics against Sharon Street's recent evolutionary critique also puts us in a position to support a bold claim: the dualism of practical reason can be resolved in favor of impartiality.