Philosophers' Imprint: Realism and Reduction: the Quest for Robustness

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Author:	Mark Schroeder
Title:	Realism and Reduction: the Quest for Robustness
Publication Info:	Ann Arbor, Michigan: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan University Library Philosophers' Imprint February 2005
Source:	Realism and Reduction: the Quest for Robustness Mark Schroeder Ann Arbor, MI: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan, University Library vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-18, February 2005
Abstract:	It doesn’t seem possible to be a realist about the traditional Christian God while claiming to be able to reduce God talk in naturalistically acceptable terms. Reduction, in this case, seems obviously eliminativist. Many philosophers seem to think that the same is true of the normative—that reductive “realists” about the normative are not really realists about the normative at all, or at least, only in some attenuated sense. This paper takes on the challenge of articulating what it is that makes reductive theological realism look hopeless, with the aim of explaining why we should think that the normative is relevantly different. Although it follows from my diagnosis that reductivists have their work cut out for them, I find nothing which suggests that the prospects for a successful reductive realism about the normative are in any way diminished—particularly for reductive views about reasons. Even reductivists, I argue, can at least aspire to a realism that is robust.
Keywords:	realism reduction eliminativism ethical naturalism normativity reasons
URL:	http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3521354.0005.001
PDF:	Link to full PDF [0.3mb ]

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