Moralische Gefühle, moralische Wirklichkeit, moralischer Fortschritt

Are there moral truths independent of us humans and our feelings? Can we recognize them? And is there a moral progress in human history towards these truths? These are the big questions that the world-renowned American philosopher Thomas Nagel addresses in his new book. Nagel engages with current research in moral psychology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology, which empirically examine our access to moral knowledge and the role that emotions play in it. However, such subjectivist and reductionist representations of morality do not convince him—an alternative is offered by moral realism. This, however, faces the historical change of morality, which does not possess the timeless validity of scientific truths. Rather, moral truths are linked in very specific ways to historical developments, as Nagel demonstrates in this concise yet profound book.