Mark Timmons on the Analysis and Criticism of the Structural Contextualism in the Justification of Ethical Belief

It is one of the most important tasks of the contemporary ethical epistemology to answer the skepticism about the justification of ethical belief. Ethical foundationalism and coherentism can be counted among the approaches against ethical skepticism. Mark Timmons introduces contextualism in the structure of the justification of ethical belief as an independent structural theory alongside the ethical foundationalism and coherentism. The aim of this paper is to relate and criticize the features of this approach according to Mark Timmons view. In doing so, we will first explain the features and principles of structural contextualism in the justification of ethical belief. Focusing on context and contextual foundational beliefs, then, we will criticize each one of the features and principles. The result of this study is that the structural contextualism in the justification of ethical belief not only isn’t an appropriate option alongside the foundationalism and coherentism, but it also leads to relativism and skepticism.