University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Senior Thesis Projects, 2003-2006 College Scholars 2006 Minimal Truth, Moral Conflict and Metaethical Relativism Paul Julian Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_interstp3 Recommended Citation Julian, Paul, "Minimal Truth, Moral Conflict and Metaethical Relativism" (2006). Senior Thesis Projects, 2003-2006. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_interstp3/65 This Project is brought to you for free and open access by the College Scholars at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Thesis Projects, 2003-2006 by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Minimal Truth, Moral Conflict and Metaethical Relativism Paul Julian College Scholars Senior Project Defense: 8 May 2006 Mentor: Dr. John Nolt Committee: Dr. John Davis Dr. John Nolt Dr. David Reidy Contents Introduction 3 I. Crispin Wright: Minimal Truth in Ethics 1. Introduction 8 2. A Typology of Moral Conflict 10 3. Minimal Truth & Evidential Constraint 17 4. Quandary & First-Order Conflict 26 5. Quandary & Second-Order Conflict 32 6. Problems & Potential Solutions 36 II. Mark Timmons: Assertoric Non-descriptivism 1. Introduction 43 2. Assertoric Non-descriptivism & Contextual Moral Semantics 45 3. The Spectre of Relativism & Moral Justification 49 4. The Relevance of Moral Phenomenology 54 III. Accommodating Moral Relativism 1. Introduction