20th Annual Student Research Conference
Social Science
Perspectivism and Moral Debate
Dennis L. Trinkle, II
Dr. David Murphy, Faculty Mentor
Perspectivism is the idea that no person sees the world through an objective set of eyes, but all of us bring some degree of perspective to our view of things. Such a doctrine undermines the pursuit of an “objective” knowledge and especially an “objective” morality. In this paper, I attempt to examine Nietzsche’s encouragement to embrace perspectivism, Alasdair MacIntyre’s critique of Nietzschean perspectivism, and how MacIntyre fails to overcome what he criticizes. Whether we understand perspectivism primarily in a seeing metaphor from Nietzsche or a tradition metaphor from MacIntyre, both argue with great strength that there can be no unmitigated view of the world, no truth that is not filtered by our humanity, even the truth that there is no unfiltered view. Thus, moral debate affords not the opportunity to establish objective answers but a broadened perspective for both opponents and a pursuit of truth.
Keywords:
Topic(s):Philosophy & Religion
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 31-2
Location: OP 2111
Time: 10:00 am