ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses moral realism through a critical engagement with William Schweiker's hermeneutical realism. Currently, there are many theories of moral realism in both philosophical and religious ethics. For those who are not historicists or constructivists about moral values, the word moral realism carries a lot of weight. This is so because moral realists agree that moral values cannot be reducible to conceptual schemes of historical traditions or the social utility of those who want to solve their current social problems. Like Schweiker, many moral realists see moral values as being deeply rooted in the nature of reality. There are also plausible grounds for maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship between moral knowledge so conceived and moral understanding to be enhanced by hermeneutics. The key to Schweiker alternative is the role of hermeneutics in connecting moral perception and conception in order to bring about the hermeneutical event of understanding.
