Special MPRG – Bart Streumer (Groningen)

Location: Edgecliffe G03

Title: QUASI-REALISM FOR REALISTS

Abstract: Reductive realists think that normative properties are identical to descriptive properties. But they are often charged with being relativists: it is often argued that their view implies that when two people make conflicting normative judgements, these judgements can both be true. I will argue that reductive realists can answer this charge by copying the quasi-realist moves that many expressivists make.

In §1 I will outline the two main versions of realism, reductive realism and robust realism, and I will explain why reductive realists are often charged with being relativists. In §2 I will outline the quasi-realist moves that many expressivists make. In §3 I will argue that if these moves work, reductive realists can copy them in order to answer the charge that they are relativists. In §4 I will discuss the assumptions behind these moves. In §5 I will discuss robust realists’ doubts about these moves. In §6 I will show that if my arguments are sound, expressivism is closer to relativism than is often assumed.