John Mackie 1917 – 1981
John Leslie Mackie was an Australian philosopher who spent the greater part of his career at the University of Sydney, the University of York, and University College, Oxford. His Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, published in 1977, set out the classic statement of the error theory in metaethics, according to which moral judgments aim at objective truth but systematically fail because there are no moral facts of the kind required. The Miracle of Theism developed an influential set of arguments against the existence of God, while The Cement of the Universe offered a sophisticated account of causation. His arguments shape contemporary debate on moral realism, the philosophy of religion, and free will.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Australian
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Analytic
Selected quotes
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Attributed to John Mackie:
“There are no objective values.”
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Attributed to John Mackie:
“Moral judgments make claims to objectivity, but those claims are false.”
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Attributed to John Mackie:
“If there were objective values, they would be entities of a very strange sort.”
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Attributed to John Mackie:
“Morality is not to be discovered but to be made.”
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Attributed to John Mackie:
“The argument from evil shows that the traditional conception of God is internally inconsistent.”