Torfinn Huvenes: "Lukewarm Realism"

Torfinn Huvenes, University of Bergen: "Lukewarm Realism"
 

Abstract
This talk is about normative realism and the possibility of alternative normative concepts. In Choosing Normative Concepts (2017), Matti Eklund asks us to image someone he calls “Bad Guy”, someone who does bad things and whose motives are bad. From the point of a normative realist, it seems straightforward to say that Bad Guy is wrong, and that is the end of the story. But what if Bad Guy does not speak our language? What if he speaks a language in which the normative terms have the same normative role as the normative terms in our language, but a different extension? For instance, while their word “wrong*” has the same normative role as our word “wrong”, the extension is different. We can still say that Bad Guy is wrong to do the things that he does. But using his language, he can criticize us in a corresponding way. We can say that our language is better. But using his language, he can make a corresponding claim about his language. What should a normative realist say about Bad Guy? One possibility is to deny that there could be linguistic community which speaks a language in which the normative terms have the same normative role as in our language, but a different extension. However, in this talk, I want to explore what happens if we accept the possibility of such a linguistic community while still endorsing a realist view about normativity. Does such a view deflate the significance of normativity? If so, what does that mean and is it problematic?