The Myth of Morality

In The Myth of Morality, Richard Joyce argues that moral discourse is hopelessly flawed. At the heart of ordinary moral judgements is a notion of moral inescapability, or practical authority, which, upon investigation, cannot be reasonably defended. Joyce argues that natural selection is to blame, in that it has provided us with a tendency to invest the world with values that it does not contain, and demands that it does not make. Should we therefore do away with morality, as we did away with other faulty notions such as witches? Possibly not. We may be able to carry on with morality as a ‘useful fiction’ - allowing it to have a regulative influence on our lives and decisions, perhaps even playing a central role - while not committing ourselves to believing or asserting falsehoods, and thus not being subject to accusations of ‘error’.

Preface; 1. Error theory and motivation; 2. Error theory and reasons; 3. Practical instrumentalism; 4. The relativity of reasons; 5. Internal and external reasons; 6. Morality and evolution; 7. Fictionalism; 8. Moral fictionalism; Epilogue: debunking myths; Select bibliography; Index.

In The Myth of Morality, Richard Joyce argues that moral discourse is hopelessly flawed. At the heart of ordinary moral judgements is a notion of moral inescapability, or practical authority, which, upon investigation, cannot be reasonably defended. His innovative book will appeal to all readers interested in moral philosophy.

Richard Joyce is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield. He has published a number of articles in journals including Journal of Value Inquiry, British Journal of Aesthetics, and Biology and Philosophy.