Lance Independent

Moral realism: winning converts or fashionable trend?

(Note: I’ll be using moral objectivism and moral realism interchangeably here, though it’s worth flagging that not everyone does so.)

Mar 19 • Lance S. Bush

5

3

1

Did a recent study show most children are moral realists?

1.0 Introduction

Mar 17 • Lance S. Bush

12

3

"It just seems..." is not a good way to argue

Over at Bentham’s Newsletter, Bentham’s Bulldog argues that selfishness is irrational. The specifics of the argument aren’t relevant to any points I…

Mar 13 • Lance S. Bush

33

1

4

Top-down and Bottom-up Concepts

A response to "Is moral knowledge possible?"

Mar 7 • Lance S. Bush

33

16

13

February 2026

TL;DR version of "Nothing Can “Give” You a Reason"

Since my critique of Bentham’s post about normative reasons was extremely long and most people won’t read it, I will offer a tl;dr version.

Feb 21 • Lance S. Bush

21

20

7

Nothing Can “Give” You a Reason

Reification, pragmatics, and desire-reductivism

Feb 19 • Lance S. Bush

26

54

5

January 2026

Pragmatism & Prediction

Some time ago, Mike Huemer wrote an article discussing “absurd” theories of truth. I don’t want to address the article as a whole, but instead want to…

Jan 13 • Lance S. Bush

28

12

4

I don't care if I should care if moral realism is true

1.0 Introduction

Jan 3 • Lance S. Bush

34

14

12

December 2025

The role of intuitions in philosophy with Jennifer Nado

Here I discuss the role of intuitions in philosophy with Jennifer Nado:

Dec 29, 2025 • Lance S. Bush

6

1

1

No, The Selfish Gene does not predict that organisms should be selfish

Consider this recent response from Huemer when asked whether evolution can fully explain our moral intuitions.

Dec 29, 2025 • Lance S. Bush

67

24

19

If you're a relativist, why should I care if you think something is wrong?

Twitter Tuesday #51

Dec 24, 2025 • Lance S. Bush

5

The presumption of realism with Nils Franzen

I recently had a discussion with the excellent Nils Franzén regarding his paper, “The presumption of realism” which you can find here. Here’s the…

Dec 16, 2025 • Lance S. Bush

4

1

3