omething more powerful than philosophical argumentation is on display here. You can\u2019t argue someone into seeing the Grand Canyon\u2019s beauty. But you can point and say, \u201cLook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps morality is like that. Encounters with both betrayal and loyalty, selfishness and self-sacrifice, greed and generosity\u2014these are the experiences that shape our moral views. Philosophy simply refines them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This means that weighing the validity of moral realism is never merely an academic exercise. It\u2019s one of the most urgent and consequential tasks we can undertake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If moral realism is false, then our deepest moral convictions\u2014about justice and kindness, oppression and cruelty\u2014are just preferences. How we treat others is negotiable. The Holocaust isn\u2019t evil, and the abolition of slavery isn\u2019t progress. All this leaves victims of abuse, persecution, and exploitation not only with the pain of their suffering but also with the silence of a universe incapable of calling it wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if moral realism is true\u2014if there really is a moral structure to the universe independent of human opinion\u2014then the picture changes completely. Our longing for justice is not naive. Charity and love are truly good, and cruelty and deceit are truly bad. Each human being has inestimable worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this way,\u00a0The Good, the Right, and the Real<\/em>\u00a0is not only a philosophical argument but also a gentle plea for moral attention….<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> 'If moral realism is false, then our deepest moral convictions\u2014about justice and kindness, oppression and cruelty\u2014are just preferences. How we treat others is negotiable. The Holocaust isn\u2019t evil, and the abolition of slavery isn\u2019t progress. All this leaves victims of abuse,\u2026<\/p>— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 22, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>