conjunctionalist

A conjunctionalist is a philosopher who adheres to conjunctionism, a meta-ethical theory that posits moral properties are identical to certain natural properties. This view suggests that moral terms like "good" or "right" do not refer to a unique, non-natural property, but rather to a conjunction of natural properties. For example, a conjunctionalist might argue that something is "good" if and only if it possesses a specific set of observable characteristics, such as promoting happiness, causing pleasure, or being beneficial.

Conjunctionism is a response to the challenges posed by naturalism in meta-ethics. Naturalism in ethics generally holds that moral properties can be identified with or reduced to natural properties. However, certain objections, such as G.E. Moore's open-question argument, have been raised against simple naturalistic identifications. Conjunctionism attempts to navigate these objections by proposing a more complex relationship, where moral properties are not simply identical to a single natural property, but to a conjunction of them. This nuanced approach aims to preserve the insights of naturalism while offering a more robust account of moral properties.

The appeal of conjunctionism lies in its ability to provide a seemingly objective basis for morality, grounding ethical judgments in observable facts about the world. It seeks to avoid the difficulties associated with non-naturalistic theories, which may struggle to explain how we can know or disagree about non-natural moral properties. However, conjunctionist theories themselves face ongoing debate regarding the precise nature of these conjunctions and how to definitively identify them.