My reaction is that moral philosophy just isn’t science. Sure, if you’re a utilitarian you can use empirical evidence to figure out what maximizes aggregate welfare, relative to your account of well-being, but you can’t use science to discover that utilitarianism is true. This is because utilitarianism, like any other first-order normative theory and many meta-ethical theories, doesn’t lead you to expect any experiences over any other experiences.
My reaction is that moral philosophy just isn’t science. Sure, if you’re a utilitarian you can use empirical evidence to figure out what maximizes aggregate welfare, relative to your account of well-being, but you can’t use science to discover that utilitarianism is true. This is because utilitarianism, like any other first-order normative theory and many meta-ethical theories, doesn’t lead you to expect any experiences over any other experiences.