I think this is a folk theory about how “moral intuitions” work, and I don’t think that it is true, in the sense that it is a naive answer to a naive question that should have been dissolved rather than answered
I’m not entirely sure what you mean, or perhaps you use “dissolving” in a different sense from how I understand it. I thought that dissolving a question meant taking a previously mysterious and unanswerable question and providing such an explanation that there’s no longer any question to be asked. But if there is a mysterious and unanswerable question here, I’m not sure of what it is.
For what it’s worth, I’d bet that your third question will be answered more or less directly, without dissolution. See Wix’s reply for a step in that direction.
Still not sure what you mean: questions one and two seem interesting but outside the scope of my essay, and I’m not sure I understand the third one. You said in your original comment that
I think this is a folk theory about how “moral intuitions” work, and I don’t think that it is true, in the sense that it is a naive answer to a naive question that should have been dissolved rather than answered.
...but I don’t think I really answered any of those three questions in my post.
I’m not entirely sure what you mean, or perhaps you use “dissolving” in a different sense from how I understand it. I thought that dissolving a question meant taking a previously mysterious and unanswerable question and providing such an explanation that there’s no longer any question to be asked. But if there is a mysterious and unanswerable question here, I’m not sure of what it is.
Potential questions this essay could have been written to answer, that might deserve to be dissolved rather than answered directly:
How does moral reasoning work (and what are the implications)?
How do moral debates find ground in moral feelings (and what are the implications)?
Where does the motivational force attributed to pro-social intrinsic values come from (and what are the implications)?
I’m currently reading a book called Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality that frames the problem exactly like that. It’s by Patricia Churchland. The view that she defends is that moral decision are based on constraint satisfaction, just like a lot of other decisions processes.
For what it’s worth, I’d bet that your third question will be answered more or less directly, without dissolution. See Wix’s reply for a step in that direction.
You’re probably right. In some sense I just re-stated the same question a few times, dissolving more at each step :-)
Still not sure what you mean: questions one and two seem interesting but outside the scope of my essay, and I’m not sure I understand the third one. You said in your original comment that
...but I don’t think I really answered any of those three questions in my post.