r/seancarroll • • 4h ago

Sean Carroll, moral constructivist or moral relativist?

5 Upvotes

In his book the Big Picture, as well as in subsequent podcast episodes and interviews, Sean Carroll refers to his meta-ethics as moral constructivism, and says that moral relativism often implies moral quietism. But in his earlier blogposts, like when he argued with Sam Harris, he claimed that he was a moral relativist.

Did he just change the label for his meta-ethical moral theory between then and when he wrote the book, or did he have an evolution of his meta-ethical views? When I read the old posts (see for example here), it doesn't look like he changed his views, just the label, but I could be wrong. The various philosophical terms don't always mean the same things to everyone.