...and continuing from the other comment, the problem here is that one meta-ethical conclusion seems to be that no meta-ethics can actually define what “right” is. So any meta-ethics would only pour a limited amount of light on the question, and is expected to have failure modes, where the structure of the theory is not quite right. It’s a virtue of a meta-ethical theory to point out explicitly some of its assumptions, which, if not right, would make the advice it gives incorrect. In this case, we have an assumption of reflective coherence in human value, and a meta-ethics that said that if it’s not so, then it doesn’t know anything. I’m pretty sure that Eliezer would disagree with the assertion that if any given meta-ethics, including some version of his own, would state that the notion of “right” is empty, then “right” is indeed empty (see “the moral void”).
...and continuing from the other comment, the problem here is that one meta-ethical conclusion seems to be that no meta-ethics can actually define what “right” is. So any meta-ethics would only pour a limited amount of light on the question, and is expected to have failure modes, where the structure of the theory is not quite right. It’s a virtue of a meta-ethical theory to point out explicitly some of its assumptions, which, if not right, would make the advice it gives incorrect. In this case, we have an assumption of reflective coherence in human value, and a meta-ethics that said that if it’s not so, then it doesn’t know anything. I’m pretty sure that Eliezer would disagree with the assertion that if any given meta-ethics, including some version of his own, would state that the notion of “right” is empty, then “right” is indeed empty (see “the moral void”).