Pragmatist metaethics: Moral theory as a deliberative practice

The paper defends a pragmatist account of metaethics that challenges the standard view of justificatory structure at the heart of many rule-based normative ethical theories. The standard view of justificatory structure assumes that deliberation must be constrained by antecedent justificatory procedures. I consider some of the radical implications of the pragmatist idea that deliberation is the conceptual context within which to interpret, evaluate, and explain moral justification.