Moral disagreement is special
Abstract
Are disagreements about morality the same as disagreements in other domains, epistemologically speaking? This paper argues no, moral disagreement is special. In the moral domain, disagreement with a peer generates special reason to reduce confidence, whether or not this is how we should respond to peer disagreement in other domains. That is because moral disagreement distinctively generates second-personal reasons to adjust our volitional choices, which in turn exert new rational pressure on what we formerly believed about what we ought to do. The argument thus starts from moral premises but yields epistemic conclusions, contributing to a growing philosophical movement to see ethics and epistemology as richly interrelated.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Epistemology
Ethics
and Metaphysics
Philosophical Ethics and Theory
Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Philosophical Studies
- Volume
- 183
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1625–1650
- Publication date
- 9 February 2026
- Language
- EN