进化揭穿论证的认识论困境与生态道德实在论的超越

The Epistemological Dilemma of Evolutionary Debunking Arguments and the Transcendence through Ecological Moral Realism

  • 摘要: 进化揭穿论证(Evolutionary Debunking Arguments, EDAs)主张,道德实在论是站不住脚的,因为我们的道德信念是自然选择的产物而非真理追踪机制的结果,因此缺乏认识论的根据。本文指出并批判了EDAs依赖的四个核心预设:适应与真理的二元对立、起源决定认识论、道德真理的非自然独立性,以及模态必然性要求。更重要的是,本文提出了一个认识论分层辩护模型,展示道德知识如何通过三个相对独立的机制——进化情感、文化筛选和理性批判——的系统性互动获得可靠性。这个模型揭示了EDAs的根本缺陷:它们错误地将信念的基因起源等同于其全部认识论资源。在此框架基础上,本文进一步发展了一种社会生态道德实在论,将道德真理理解为社会生态位中的功能性约束,从而调和了进化科学与道德客观性。本文的论证表明:(1)认识论分层模型揭示了道德知识如何通过认识的三层交叉验证、偏差校正、跨文化稳定化和认识论冗余获得系统性可靠性;(2)生态道德实在论解释了为何进化会追踪道德真理而无需诉诸神秘巧合。

     

    Abstract: Evolutionary Debunking Arguments (EDAs) contend that moral realism is untenable because our moral beliefs are products of natural selection rather than outputs of truth-tracking mechanisms, thereby lacking epistemic justification. This paper identifies and critiques four core assumptions underlying EDAs: the binary opposition between adaptation and truth, the thesis that origins determine epistemic status, the non-natural independence of moral truths, and the requirement of modal necessity. More importantly, the paper proposes an epistemically stratified defense model, demonstrating how moral knowledge can achieve reliability through the systematic interaction of three relatively independent mechanisms—evolved emotions, cultural filtering, and rational critique. This model exposes a fundamental flaw in EDAs: they erroneously equate the genetic origin of a belief with its entire epistemic basis. Building on this framework, the paper further develops a social-ecological moral realism, reconceiving moral truths as functional constraints embedded within socio-ecological niches, thus reconciling evolutionary science with moral objectivity. The argument presented here shows that: (1) the epistemically stratified model reveals how moral knowledge gains systemic reliability through cross-validation across three epistemic layers, bias correction, cross-cultural stabilization, and epistemic redundancy; and (2) ecological moral realism explains why evolution can track moral truths without invoking mysterious coincidences.

     

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