Synthesized answer
The central thesis of *Fieldwork in Familiar Places* is that despite widespread skepticism about the objectivity of morality stemming from deep moral disagreements, it is possible to take these disagreements seriously while still aspiring to moral objectivity [3]. The book challenges misconceptions about morality, culture, and objectivity that fuel this skepticism [2, 3].
Michele M. Moody-Adams argues that ethical inquiry, including philosophical ethics, is an interpretive enterprise akin to interpretive ethnography [1]. She dismantles the notion that cultures are isolated entities that support moral relativism, demonstrating instead that cultures are complex, open to change, and influenced by intermingling and borrowing [3]. This internal complexity, she contends, thwarts efforts to limit moral judgments to a single culture [1, 3]. The text suggests that genuine ethical inquiry occurs against a background of moral agreement, even in the face of serious disagreement, and that philosophers can contribute by viewing themselves as participants in a community of moral inquirers [1].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
not only crucial for cultural survival, but will always thwart relativist efforts to confine moral judgments to a single culture. Fieldwork in Familiar Places will forever change the way we think about relativism: anthropologists, psychologists, historians, and philosophers alike will be forced to reconsider many of their theoretical presuppositions. Moody-Adams also challenges the notion that ethics is methodologically deficient because it does not meet standards set by natural science. She contends that ethics is an interpretive enterprise, not a failed naturalistic one: genuine ethical…
Categories: Philosophy Pages: 276 Snippet: Fieldwork in Familiar Places challenges the misconceptions about morality, culture, and objectivity that support these skepticisms, to show that we can take moral disagreement seriously and yet retain our aspirations for moral objectivity.
Title: Fieldwork in Familiar Places by Michele M. Moody-Adams Description: The persistence of deep moral disagreements--across cultures as well as within them--has created widespread skepticism about the objectivity of morality. Moral relativism, moral pessimism, and the denigration of ethics in comparison with science are the results. Fieldwork in Familiar Places challenges the misconceptions about morality, culture, and objectivity that support these skepticisms, to show that we can take moral disagreement seriously and yet retain our aspirations for moral objectivity. Michele Moody-Adams…