ABSTRACT
One of the most fundamental problems in moral philosophy is to account for the objectivity of ethical knowledge. How and whether ethical judgments are authoritative is a contested matter in meta-ethics. Grounding ethical objectivity on wrong-making and right-making properties has proven to be an unsuccessful strategy. Kantian constructivists pursue the project of vindicating the objectivity of ethical judgments in terms of rational justification and their authority in terms of the authority of reason. Critics might insist that there still is a sense of circularity in the constructivist argument for the rich practical understanding of objectivity, which is disguised when the theory is formulated in terms of correct decision procedures. Kantian constructivism enters the debate about ethical objectivity with two related proposals. The first is that ethical objectivity comprises a claim to universal authority. The second is that only reason provides universal authority, through rational justification.
