Stockholm university

Metaethics is the philosophical study of moral judgment and moral language. Can moral judgments be true or false, and, if so, in virtue of what? Is moral truth relative to different assessors? Can we acquire moral knowledge? Are moral judgments best understood as beliefs about moral reality, or as desires that reality be in a certain way?

Metaethics encompasses semantic questions, concerning the meaning of moral concepts and terms and logical relations between these; metaphysical questions, about whether there are moral facts and properties, how they would relate to the physical world and our social circumstances, and if they are relative to different judges; epistemological questions, concerning the possibility of moral knowledge; and psychological questions, about whether moral judgments are beliefs or desires, and how they relate to our motivation to act accordingly and to emotions such as indignation and guilt.

Metaethics also includes the study of moral agency, responsibility, and blame. In virtue of what is something a moral agent, with moral obligations? How do responsibility and blame relate to questions about right and wrong, and what is it to understand someone as responsible for something, or to blame them for it?

Related research subject

Philosophy, Practical
Meta ethics
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Researchers

Gunnar Björnsson

Head of Department

Department of Philosophy
Gunnar Björnsson

Jonas Olson

Vicedekan

Department of Philosophy
Jonas Olson

Anandi Hattiangadi

Professor

Department of Philosophy
Anandi Hattiangadi

Victor Moberger

Forskare

Department of Philosophy
Victor Moberger

Stina Björkholm

Postdoc

Department of Philosophy
Stina Björkholm

Research projects