In this episode we discuss Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong by J.L. Mackie.
In this episode Jerry and Stably discussed Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong by J.L. Mackie, a dense, academic defense of moral error theory: the claim that no objective morality exists. They walked through Mackie's argument from relativity (moral codes vary across cultures) and his "argument from queerness" (an objective morality would have to be an inexplicably motivating fact unlike anything else we recognize as real), and his conclusion that this needn't lead to nihilism, since morality functions as an evolved, practically useful system for cooperation given humans' limited sympathy and scarce resources. They connected this to evolutionary psychology, discussed how rapid technological change (AI, simulated realities, warfare) could strain inherited moral intuitions, and debated whether openly admitting morality's non-objectivity destabilizes social cohesion. Despite finding the prose difficult, both recommended the book, particularly for readers already sympathetic to skepticism about objective morality.