Emma Jakobsson: Constructivism in Ethics: A Critical Study of Three Forms of Constructivism

Abstract

Ethical constructivism holds that moral values and norms are human constructions. This claim has, over time, sparked a scholarly debate about the meaning of holding that such values and norms are constructed. Some argue that we construct them from the standpoint of rational reflection. Others hold that we construct them from the evaluative standpoint of emotional responses. 

This thesis analyzes three constructivist models to develop ethical constructivism further. In doing so, this thesis works with a set of analytical questions to approach the material critically in respect of how Kantian constructivist Christine M. Korsgaard, Humean constructivist Sharon Street, and social constructivist Carl-Henric Grenholm understand the central problem for morality, what is constructed, what is the outcome of the construction, what we attribute to moral agency, and their respective view of normative truths. 

The thesis argues that, although ethical constructivism focuses primarily on the claim that values are human constructions from an ontological standpoint, it has implications for understanding the function of moral judgments and the conditions for moral knowledge. The thesis concludes that ethical constructivism is a plausible position in ethical theory and argues that we ought to accept that moral values and norms are constructed socially and thus are contextually dependent.