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Author ORCID Identifier

N/A

AccessType

Open Access Dissertation

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Philosophy

Year Degree Awarded

2017

Month Degree Awarded

September

First Advisor

Fred Feldman

Second Advisor

Phillip Bricker

Third Advisor

Peter Graham

Fourth Advisor

Bradford Skow

Subject Categories

Ethics and Political Philosophy | Metaphysics

Abstract

I defend and explicate a Moorean program in value theory. I claim that intrinsic goodness is the fundamental concept of axiology, and argue that the notion should be understood as G.E. Moore suggested in the Principia Ethica. In the first three chapters, I address popular challenges to the Moorean project, including objections raised by Judith Jarvis Thomson, Shelly Kagan, and Christine Korsgaard. After, I turn to explication: I attend to the connection between goodness and other normative notions, and present what I take to be the most attractive version of the Moorean view. Finally, I address a perennial puzzle in Moorean axiology: the nature and existence of value pluralism.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/10178737.0

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