How to combine hermeneutics and Wide Reflective Equilibrium?

Abstract

Empirical ethics is based upon the idea that empirical research can be used to develop new and better ethical theories. Empirical research can elucidate the relevance of ethical issues in daily life, and show which problems require normative analysis. It can also give insight into the considerations of practitioners, which might be morally relevant because they embody experience. In the literature, various methods for integrating empirical research on the considerations of practitioners in ethics have been proposed. One is the method of Wide Reflective Equilibrium (Delden and Thiel, 1998), which is based upon Rawls’ method for developing a theory of justice. Another one is pragmatic hermeneutics (Scheer and Widdershoven, 2004), which is inspired by Gadamer’s analysis of human experience. Ebbesen and Pedersen (2007) combine hermeneutics and Wide Reflective Equilibrium. The article gives a theoretical analysis of the two methods, exploring their common features. It also describes how the two methods were applied in a research project. The combination of hermeneutics and Wide Reflective Equilibrium, and their joint application in a concrete research project, is relevant for the discussion on empirical ethics. Yet, some questions can be raised concerning the way in which the authors relate both approaches to one another. In my comment I will first go into the theoretical comparison of the two methods. I will argue that on a theoretical level, the two approaches are in certain aspects more similar, and in other aspects more different than the authors claim. Next I will go into the practical application of hermeneutics and Wide Reflective Equilibrium in the research project. I will question the design of the project from the perspective of both hermeneutics and Wide Reflective Equilibrium. My conclusion will be that a successful combination of hermeneutics and Wide Reflective Equilibrium in empirical ethics requires further theoretical and practical efforts.