A Study On The Method Of Reflective Equilibrium From Ethical Perspective

The method of Reflective Equilibrium is firstly proposed by Nelson Goodman in his classic works Fact,Fiction,and Forecast.The method,which was introduced into A Theory of Justice and named it after "reflective equilibrium" by John Rawls,was world-renowned.This method refers to the achievement of a harmonious,coherent state in individual beliefs through a deliberative process of repeated and mutual adjustment.The beliefs includes:(a)considered moral judgments,(b)moral principles,and(c)background theories.The coherence and balance between the first two is reflective equilibrium in a narrow sense while the coherence and balance among the all three is reflective equilibrium in a broad sense.In Rawls and Norman Daniels's view,Wide Reflective Equilibrium is a more attractive approach,and is also a more desirable approach to moral philosophy.In the field of ethics,there are two kinds of traditional theories on moral justification:foundationalism and coherentism.Adopting the linear one-way justification path from the basic beliefs to the non-basic beliefs,Foundationalism is to terminate the chain of justification by setting some basic beliefs.However,we often have no way to trace the justification source of the basic beliefs.Resorting to the two-side non-linear justification picture in which beliefs mutually support and verify each other,Coherentism emphasizes on acquirement of justification force through a supportive,coherent relationship in the beliefs.The method of Reflective Equilibrium inherited and surpassed the two traditional theories,and was a theory of foudherentism between the traditional two.This method accepted the weak foundation of the considered moral judgments;meanwhile,it canceled the nonrevisible privilege of weak foundation.In addition,this method both emphasized the coherent relationship that justification force derived from beliefs,and examined the credibility of beliefs themselves.In the research methods of ethics,the deduction of top-bottom process,and the induction of bottom-top process have long been debated.Adopting one of the two methods blindly,people will frequently make some mistakes in practical usage.There are some cases in which people reject the applicability of some rules and principles merely by their intuitive judgments.The more common situation is that people take established regulations or rules as infallible and unrevisable bedrock,and hereby reach the conclusion of what activity should be adopted in a particular case through deduction without analysis of specific circumstances,which result in serious consequences.The method of Reflective Equilibrium is the fusion of these two methods.This method accepts the guidance of the ethical theory,principles and so on to specific cases from top to bottom;meanwhile,it stresses the complement and amendment to existing principles from the bottom to top of through considered moral judgments in specific cases.Reflective equilibrium is an important method in ethics.However,it has not received due attention in our country at present.In particular,the theoretical discussion is not enough,and conscious application is rare.The advantage of the reflective equilibrium method is that it advocates that all the moral judgments,moral principles and background theories are fallible and can also be modified,and therefore can effectively avoid ethical absolutism and strong foundationism.It emphasizes that we must constantly adjust to the moral judgments,moral principles and their background theories,making them in coherence,harmony and mutual support,neither sticking to the rules nor blindly adhering to the intuition.The approach of reflective equilibrium can effectively help us to reduce these two types of mistakes.It can also be used to solve the conflicts between moral principles and moral judgments in reality and provide inspiration and reference for analysis of new ethical issues arising in new cases,making our decision and action more reasonable and more appropriate.However,the reflective equilibrium method has its own defects:firstly,there is no screening criteria for a variety of equally coherent equilibrium states;secondly,since the coherence of belief system does not necessarily mean that the credibility of the beliefs in it is high,we must also examine the credibility of the beliefs themselves;thirdly,the credibility of beliefs and the coherence of belief system are difficult to measure.The above problems are still not solved according to Rawls and Daniels,and thus become defects of the method.By analyzing its advantages and disadvantages,the value of the reflective equilibrium method is revaluated as follows:firstly,the reflective equilibrium method cannot play the role of the pillar in moral theory construction,but it can serve as a basis to evaluate the merits of the moral theory;secondly,the method is a desirable path of moral justification,which can be used as a source of power for a certain moral principles or moral judgments;thirdly,in the practice of ethics,the method can be used to seek the proper ethical basis for the amendment and improvement of moral principles and policies,as well as the ethical basis for the role of intuition in moral decision-making.Of course,this method is not universally applicable.We should not neglect the inherent drawbacks in this method,and make further efforts to improve it theoretically and practically afterward.