The phenomenology of moral normativity

William H. Smith draws on both phenomenology and contemporary moral theory to argue that the source of moral normativity-that is, the justification of morality's binding force-is the legitimate authority of other persons to hold us morally accountable and our self-responsible commitment to live up to that demand.

Why should I be moral? Philosophers have long been concerned with the legitimacy of morality's claim on us--especially its ostensible aim to motivate certain actions of all persons unconditionally. This problem of moral normativity has received extensive treatment in analytic moral theory, but little attention has been paid to the potential contribution that phenomenology might make to this central debate in metaethics. In The Phenomenology of Moral Normativity, William H. Smith takes up the question of morality's legitimacy anew, drawing contemporary moral philosophers into conversation with