The Ethics of Wilfrid Sellars

Jul 6, 2026

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Wilfrid Sellars’s ethical theory is presented as innovative and systematic, claiming that moral judgments express a distinctive kind of shared intention. The work develops expressivism about plans and intentions and treats collective intentionality through a detailed logic of intentions and an account of the categorical validity of normative expressions. It also reconciles the cognitive and motivating roles of moral judgment while grounding the approach in strict nominalism and naturalism, showing its relevance to contemporary debates in metaethics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages371

Reading Time9 h 31 min

Introduction: Situating Sellars’s Ethical Theory in the Contemporary Landscape

Sellars’s Synoptic Vision

A New Naturalism

Moral Judgments as Shared Intentions

What Are Sellarsian We-Intentions?

Practical Reasoning and the Logic of Intentions

Moral Motivation 1—Against the Humean Account

Moral Motivation 2—Sellars’s Kantian Account

Categorical Validity and the Necessity of Community

Sellars’s Ethical Naturalism

The Ethics of Wilfrid Sellars Wilfrid Sellars’s ethical theory was rich and deeply innovative. On Sellars’s view, moral judgments express a special kind of shared intention. Thus, we should see Sellars as an early advocate of an expressivism of plans and intentions, and an early theorist of collective intentionality. He supplemented this theory with a sophisticated logic of intentions, a robust theory of the categorical validity of normative expressions, a subtle way of reconciling the cognitive and motivating aspects of moral judgment, and much more—all within a strict nominalism that preserves Sellars’s commitment to naturalism. The Ethics of Wilfrid Sellars offers the first systematic treatment of this sadly neglected aspect of Sellars’s work and demonstrates that his ethical theory—just like his more widely discussed epistemology—has much to contribute to current debates. Jeremy Randel Koons is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. He has published widely in epistemology, metaethics, philosophy of religion, and other areas. His most recent book, The Normative and the Natural (coauthored with Michael P. Wolf), appeared in 2016. Routledge Studies in American Philosophy Edited by Willem deVries, University of New Hampshire, USA Henry Jackman, York University, Canada Toward a Pragmatist Metaethics Diana B. Heney Sellars and Contemporary Philosophy Edited by David Pereplyotchik and Deborah R. Barnbaum Pragmatism and Objectivity Essays Sparked by the Work of Nicolas Rescher Edited by Sami Pihlström The Quantum of Explanation Whitehead’s Radical Empiricism Randall E. Auxier and Gary L. Herstein Peirce on Perception and Reasoning From Icons to Logic Edited by Kathleen A. Hull and Richard Kenneth Atkins Peirce’s Speculative Grammar Logic as Semiotics Francesco Bellucci Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Nature of Philosophy Scott F. Aikin and Robert B. Talisse Pragmatism and the European Traditions Encounters with Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology Before the Great Divide Edited by Maria Baghramian and Sarin Marchetti Community and Loyalty in American Philosophy Royce, Sellars, and Rorty Steven A. Miller Sellars and the History of Modern Philosophy Edited by Luca Corti and Antonio M. Nunziante The Ethics of Wilfrid Sellars Jeremy Randel Koons For more information about this series, [please visit: www.routledge.com](please visit: www.routledge.com)[ ](please visit: www.routledge.com)[/Routledge-Studies-in-American-Philosophy/book-series/RSAP](/Routledge-Studies-in-American-Philosophy/book-series/RSAP). The Ethics of Wilfrid Sellars Jeremy Randel Koons First published 2019 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Jeremy Randel Koons The right of Jeremy Randel Koons to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-70874-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-20116-0 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC For Lucy and Abby Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Situating Sellars’s Ethical Theory in the Contemporary Landsc

FAQs

What does Sellars argue moral judgments express?

Moral judgments express a special kind of shared intention.

How does the book characterize Sellars’s contribution to expressivism?

It presents Sellars as an early advocate of an expressivism of plans and intentions and an early theorist of collective intentionality.

What themes does the book develop regarding normative expressions and moral motivation?

It develops a theory of the categorical validity of normative expressions and offers accounts that reconcile the cognitive and motivating aspects of moral judgment, including arguments against Humean and for Kantian accounts.

Jul 6, 2026

Upload by Oliver