Key Objections, Responses, and Clarifications

Abstract This chapter surveys a range of important objections and challenges to the theory of normative fruitfulness. These include the objection that the theory is committed to an implausible form of moral relativism, that the theory makes morality overly concessive to people’s moral failings, that it fails to “take morality seriously,” that it suggests the “wrong kinds of reasons” for acting morally, that it would make us overly reluctant to engage in transformative experiences, that it gives us an overly narrow view of the relevance of empirical research to moral and political philosophy, and others. Responding to each objection and challenge clarifies the contours of the account on offer, and this strength-testing exercise helps to expand the range of topics and questions that the theory of normative fruitfulness bears on.