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    If a moral truth is necessary, then that moral truth must... — Carmelics
    Home/Moral Responsibility
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    If a moral truth is necessary, then that moral truth must be universal

    Modality & Possibility
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.If a proposition must be true, then that proposition is true in every actual case
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    • 2.Universal truths are those that hold in every actual case
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Necessary truths are true in all possible worlds, whereas universal truths are true across all actual cases within a single world.
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    • 2.A moral truth could be necessarily true without being universal if some possible worlds contain no beings to whom that moral truth applies.
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    • 3.Therefore, necessity entails truth across modal space, not universality across all actual particulars, making the inference from necessity to universality a modal category error.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Kant's categorical imperative is arguably a necessary moral truth yet applies only to rational agents, not to all actual entities in the world.
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    • 2.Universality in the morally relevant sense is agent-relative and domain-restricted, not an unrestricted quantification over all actual cases.
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    • 3.A necessary moral truth can therefore be universal within its proper domain without being universal in the unrestricted sense the claim requires.
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    Topics

    Moral ResponsibilityModality & Possibility

    Connections

    1 topic

    Truth & Knowledge2 linked

    Related

    A moral truth could be necessarily true without being universal if some possible...A necessary moral truth can therefore be universal within its proper domain with...If a proposition must be true, then that proposition is true in every actual cas...Kant's categorical imperative is arguably a necessary moral truth yet applies on...
    +4 moreShow less
    Necessary truths are true in all possible worlds, whereas universal truths are t...Therefore, necessity entails truth across modal space, not universality across a...Universal truths are those that hold in every actual caseUniversality in the morally relevant sense is agent-relative and domain-restrict...

    Similar

    If a moral truth is known a priori, then that moral truth must be nece...88%Necessary moral truths hold universally and are not dependent on conti...87%Therefore the moral law must be universal.84%There are necessary moral truths, such as that it is necessarily wrong...82%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: moral-epistemology-a-priori
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    Thus, on a standard reading of Book II, the prescriptive content of moral claims, along with their necessity and universality, led Kant to believe we know moral truths only a priori. However, some interpret Kant as saying that if a moral truth is a priori, then it must also be necessary and universal (Dancy 2007: 45). On this interpretation, if one knows P a priori, then P must be necessary; after all, it’s unclear how one could know a contingent truth without experience. Moreover, if P is neces
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit