Pragmatism and moral realism

Abstract

At a first sight pragmatism, on the one hand, and moral realism and cognitivism, on the other hand, are incompatible views. On a more detailed look, however, they might not be. In this paper I will examine the debate on moral realism and cognitivism in order to discuss the possibility that they are compatible with pragmatism. My claim is that moral anti-realism stands on a reductivist fisicalist conception of "fact", and the pragmatism rightly understood has realist and cognitivist consequences on the moral terrain.