“Voluntarists try to explain normativity in what is in some sense the most natural way: we are subject to laws, including the laws of morality, because we are subject to lawgivers. But when we ask why we should be subject to those lawgivers, an infinite regress threatens. Realists try to block that regress by postulating the existence of entities — objective values, reasons, or obligations — whose intrinsic normativity forbids further questioning. But why should we believe in these entities? In the end, it seems, we will be prepared to assert that such entities exist only because — and only if — we are already confident that the claims of morality are justified.”

– Christine M. Korsgaard, The Sources of Normativity

Originally appeared on Philosophy Bits Read More