Brian Leiter
speaker
530 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard Sep 2009
last heard Sep 2010
Brian Leiter’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsNo recordings in the last 12 months.Older appearances are listed below; set an alert to hear about the next one.
Appearances
So the answer is yes, but with some qualifications.
And I think it depends a little bit on what kinds of beliefs we're talking about in the category of metaphysical beliefs.
Now, on my view, if metaphysics isn't to be utterly disreputable, as it mostly is, it has to be continuous with empirical science, which means by definition, as it were, it's going to have to answer to the regular
Standards of reasons and evidence.
There aren't going to be distinctive metaphysical standards of reasons and evidence that are going to bear on the justification of metaphysical beliefs.
Now, obviously, there are philosophers who hold a different view of metaphysics.
And I'm less inclined to interpret their discourse in non-cognitive terms, though I think sometimes that is actually warranted.
In this regard, I follow Nietzsche, the subject.
Of our earlier discussion.
But I'm more inclined, I think, to interpret it in error theoretic terms.
That is, I think they do in fact express beliefs and they tend to express an awful lot of false beliefs.
But of course, the problem case, right, for my view about what's characteristic of religion would be if the metaphysical theory that leads you to certain beliefs that are insulated from reasons and evidence
as reasons and evidence are understood in the sciences, right?
also were conjoined with categorical demands on action.
And in your particular example, right, one could have a view about the metaphysical status of free will.
And that wouldn't necessarily entail any particular view about what it is you had to do.
Indeed, depending on the view, it might entail there's no point in having a view about what you ought to do.
But that would take us in a I think in a different direction.
That is roughly correct.
Let me just on a very minor point of detail, I don't want to say that religion necessarily involves categorical moral demands on action.
Showing 121–140 of 530 · page 7 of 27
← Previous
Next →