If we could get an ought from an is, could we get a must from an ought

Presenter: Peter Shaw (Confirmation milestone seminar)

The paper argues that philosophy should be continuous with science. It therefore proposes that moral philosophy needs to acknowledge the theories of moral cognition that are being developed from cognitive neuroscience and social psychology and recognise the implications that those theories have for debates in moral philosophy. I will argue that objective moral value can be theoretically determined and inform agents as to what is a good act. Empirical studies also indicate that social contexts play a major role in moral judgments and motivation. Knowledge of the processes of moral cognition and the contexts in which judgements are made and acted upon might assist the design of social institutions to better facilitate moral behaviour.