PR 621: Disagreement, dogmatism, moral encroachment & Wittgensteinian etiquette

Article Data

This paper looks into deep disagreements, both epistemic and moral, and investigates how to find common ground between them. Illegitimate cases of deep disagreement, such as dogmatism and moral encroachment are first identified and separated out, and then the underlying philosophy of the deep disagreement literature is interrogated. While current theories often rely on unanalyzable Wittgensteinian hinges, an epistemic compounding theory from Greenstein (Southwest Philosophy Review 38, 2022) is used to provide more fine-grained analysis. This epistemology allows us to locate the source of our deeply held beliefs, i.e. the hinges, in our everyday lives. This theory is then extended to moral certainties, creating a moral etiquette. From there, we have a possible means of adjudicating between disputants of both epistemic and moral deep disagreements by finding common ground.