My opponent answers, “Yes, but you still can’t get from an ‘is’ to an ‘ought’. You can’t get from, ‘people generally have many and strong reasons for action that exist to condemn those who do not do X’ to ‘I ought to do X’. How do you justify that one final step?”
I would tell my opponent, “I have no need for that ‘last final step’ that you’re talking about. If I can demonstrate that people generally have many and strong reasons for action that exist to condemn those who would not do X. That’s all I need to do. Why would I want to go further? Why would I want to carry my ‘ought’ statement into your realm of fiction and make-believe?”
It seems like Fyfe is saying “‘Everyone else is doing it’ is a reason for me to do the same.” Does that seem right?
Just looking at what you quote, it seems to me rather that he’s saying that once I can demonstrate that others have sufficient reason for doing X, I have consequently demonstrated that sufficient reasons for doing X exist, and that was all I needed to do as far as ethics was concerned.
In other words, that ethics is about determining reasons for action, full stop.
Which I agree with, though I find Fyfe’s presentation style here tendentious.
(Edit: I would also say that I do think going further is useful. Specifically, ”...further, those reasons apply to me just as well as those other people, and therefore I ought to do X” or ”...however, those reasons don’t apply to me, and therefore it is not the case that I ought to do X”)
Quote from later in the post.
It seems like Fyfe is saying “‘Everyone else is doing it’ is a reason for me to do the same.” Does that seem right?
Just looking at what you quote, it seems to me rather that he’s saying that once I can demonstrate that others have sufficient reason for doing X, I have consequently demonstrated that sufficient reasons for doing X exist, and that was all I needed to do as far as ethics was concerned.
In other words, that ethics is about determining reasons for action, full stop.
Which I agree with, though I find Fyfe’s presentation style here tendentious.
(Edit: I would also say that I do think going further is useful. Specifically, ”...further, those reasons apply to me just as well as those other people, and therefore I ought to do X” or ”...however, those reasons don’t apply to me, and therefore it is not the case that I ought to do X”)